Vasodilating compound and method of use

摘要

The present invention is an isolated compound and method of inducing endothelium-dependent relaxation in blood vessels including the step of introducing isolated procyanidins having a preponderance of (-)-epicatechins to a patient wherein the procyanidins are preferably galloylated. To achieve both bioavailability and potency, it is also preferred that the number of epicatechins monomers forming each procyanidin is between two and five. More specifically, isolated epicatechin-(4-8)-epicatechin-(4-8)-epicatechin-gallate (C1-gallate) is administered to the patient.