Chronic Venous Insufficiency (CVI)

Horse chestnut seed extract is commonly used to treat CVI, a condition where the veins in the legs have trouble sending blood back to the heart. Symptoms of CVI include varicose veins, leg pain, swelling, and itching. Studies suggest that horse chestnut seed extract can improve these symptoms and may be as effective as compression stockings.

Varicose Veins

Due to its Vaso protective properties, horse chestnut is often used to alleviate symptoms associated with varicose veins, such as pain, swelling, and tiredness in the legs.

Hemorrhoids

Some evidence suggests that horse chestnut may be beneficial for treating hemorrhoids due to its effects on veins, although more research is needed to confirm its efficacy.

Other Potential Uses

Horse chestnut has also been explored for other conditions like male infertility, inflammation, and hypoglycemia, but the evidence is less conclusive.

Safety and Side Effects

When taking horse chestnut tincture or any other form of horse chestnut extract, it is important to follow these safety guidelines:

• Short-term Use: Horse chestnut extract is generally considered safe for short-term use (up to 12 weeks)
• Side Effects: Potential side effects include dizziness, headache, stomach upset, and itching.
• Allergic Reactions: People allergic to latex may also be allergic to horse chestnut.
• Avoid During Pregnancy and Breastfeeding: There is not enough reliable information about the safety of horse chestnut during pregnancy or breastfeeding, so it is best to avoid it.
• Medical Conditions: Consult a healthcare provider if you have bleeding disorders, diabetes, digestive issues, liver disease, or kidney disease, as horse chestnut may exacerbate these conditions.

Source : http://www.wikiphyto.org/wiki/Horse chestnut

Reference on http://www.wikiphyto.org

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plant name

Horse Chestnut, Horse Chestnut , Horse Chestnut

International Latin denomination

Aesculus hippocastanum L.

botanical family

Hippocastanaceae

Description and habitat

• Superb ornamental tree
• Native to Asia Minor and Northern Greece (but not India)
• Introduced in Europe in the 17th century
• Palmately compound leaves, long petiolate
• Fragrant flowers, grouped in clusters of pyramid-shaped cymes, white petals spotted with pink
• The fruit is a spiny capsule

History and tradition

• The flour was added to the oats to feed the winded horses (hence its vernacular name of Chestnut horse )

Parts used

• Seeds

Dosage forms available

• Seed tincture with integument
• Fluid extract
• Dry extract
• EPS
• Intrait :
  • Composition of the drug HORSE CHESTNUT INTRACT p 100 drops (Vidal [3] )
    • Chestnut, 2% alcoholic dry extract with aesculoside 135 mg
    • Methesculetol sodium 27 mg
    • Sucrose 678 mg
  • The intract is a stabilized dry extract titrated to 2% esculoside . Stabilization consists of stopping enzymatic degradation by hot water vapor just after picking, to maintain the content of active ingredients. Then we make a dry extract which will be dissolved in a hydro-alcoholic solvent to obtain the liquid product called intrait itself.

Usual dosages

Composition

Main components of the plant

• Seed cotyledon:
  • Starch 40-50%, lipids 6-8%, flavonols , cyclitols
  • Total saponins , up to 10% ( escin , mixture of glycosides derived from two genins, protoescigenin and baringtogenol ): escin Ia, Ib, IIa, IIb, IIIa [1]
• Seed coat:
  • Proanthocyanidols (procyanidol B-2), aesculitanins, cinnamtanins
• Trunk bark:
  • Coumarins ( esculoside or aesculoside , esculetol , 4-methylesculetol )
  • Allantoin [2]

Main components of buds or young shoots

• Many flavonoids (aglycones of various flavonols  : rhamnocitrin , kaempferol , quercetin derivatives , myricetin ) [3]
• Flavan-3-ols  : catechin and epicatechin [4]
• Carotenoids  : Violaxanthin , neoxanthin , aesculaxanthin , lutein , beta-carotene , beta-cryptoxanthin , beta-citraurine [5]

Main components of essential oil

Properties

Plant properties

• Anti-inflammatory, anti-edematous, anti-exudative (on “inflammatory models”) [6]
• Increase in venous tone, venous vasoconstrictor [7] , [8] , venotonic by inhibition of hyaluronidase which degrades hyaluronic acid, glycosaminoglycan of connective tissues [9]
• Reduction of capillary permeability and reinforcement of capillary resistance
• Anti-radical and antioxidant [10]
• Decreased ethanol absorption and hypoglycemic effect ( escins ) [11] , [12]
• Stimulation des enzymes lysosomiales
• Increased ACTH and corticosteroids
• The bark of young stems is astringent and febrifuge

Bud properties

• Venous circulatory tonic

Properties of essential oil

Indications

Indications of the whole plant (phytotherapy)

• Venous and lymphatic insufficiency [13] , [14] , [15] , varicose veins, phlebitis, hemorrhoids and hemorrhoidal crisis
• Prostate enlargement, pelvic congestion
• Dysmenorrhea of ​​circulatory origin
• Canker sores, ulcerations of the oral mucosa
• Capillary fragility disorders (association with flavonoids , butcher's broom extract , local anesthetics, tocopherol, etc.)

Indications of the bud (gemmotherapy)

• Varicose veins, hemorrhoids, varicose ulcers
• Troubles prostatiques

Specific indications of essential oil (aromatherapy)

Known or suspected mode of action

• Action of escin on lysosomal enzymes

Usual formulations

Regulations

• French Pharmacopoeia list A (stem bark, seed)

Possible side effects and precautions for use

• Avoid during pregnancy and lactation, in case of diabetes, latex allergy, do not use before surgery (hemorrhagic risk)
• Possibility of interaction with plants and anticoagulant [16] and hypoglycemic drugs
• Nephrotoxicity at high doses therefore contraindication in renal failure

Bibliographic references

1. Go↑ Yoshikawa M, Murakami T, Matsuda H, Yamahara J, Murakami N, Kitagawa I. Bioactive saponins and glycosides. III. Horse chestnut. (1): The structures, inhibitory effects on ethanol absorption, and hypoglycemic activity of escins Ia, Ib, IIa, IIb, and IIIa from the seeds of Aesculus hippocastanum L. Chem Pharm Bull (Tokyo). 1996 Aug;44(8):1454-64. PMID 8795266
2. Go↑ Becker LC, Bergfeld WF, Belsito DV, Klaassen CD, Marks JG Jr, Shank RC, Slaga TJ, Snyder PW, Alan Andersen F. Final report of the safety assessment of allantoin and its related complexes. Int J Toxicol. 2010 May;29(3 Suppl):84S-97S. doi: 10.1177/1091581810362805. PMID 20448269
3. Go↑ Egger K, Wollenweber E, Tissut M. Free flavonol aglycones in the secretion of the buds of Aesculus spp. Zeitschrift fur Pflanzenphysiologie 1970 Vol. 62 No. 5 pp. 464-6 [1]
4. Go↑ Feucht W, Treutter D. Flavan-3-ols in Trichomes, Pistils and Phelloderm of Some Tree Species. Ann Bot (1990) 65(2): 225-230
5. Go↑ J. Deli, Z. Matus, G. Tóth. Comparative study on the carotenoid composition in the buds and flowers of different Aesculus species. Chromatographia, Volume 51, Number 1 (2000), S179-S182 [2]
6. Go↑ Matsuda H, Li Y, Murakami T, Ninomiya K, Yamahara J, Yoshikawa M. Effects of escins Ia, Ib, IIa, and IIb from horse chestnut, the seeds of Aesculus hippocastanum L., on acute inflammation in animals. Biol Pharm Bull. 1997 Oct;20(10):1092-5. PMID 9353571
7. Go↑ Pittler MH, Ernst E. Horse-chestnut seed extract for chronic venous insufficiency. A criteria-based systematic review. Arch Dermatol. 1998 Nov;134(11):1356-60. PMID 9828868
8. Go↑ Suter A, Bommer S, Rechner J. Treatment of patients with venous insufficiency with fresh plant horse chestnut seed extract: a review of 5 clinical studies. Adv Ther. 2006 Jan-Feb;23(1):179-90. PMID 16644618
9. Go↑ Facino RM, Carini M, Stefani R, Aldini G, Saibene L. Anti-elastase and anti-hyaluronidase activities of saponins and sapogenins from Hedera helix, Aesculus hippocastanum, and Ruscus aculeatus: factors contributing to their efficacy in the treatment of venous insufficiency. Arch Pharm (Weinheim). 1995 Oct;328(10):720-4. PMID 8554461
10. Go↑ Masaki H, Sakaki S, Atsumi T, Sakurai H. Active-oxygen scavenging activity of plant extracts. Biol Pharm Bull. 1995 Jan;18(1):162-6. PMID 7735233
11. Go↑ Yoshikawa M, Harada E, Murakami T, Matsuda H, Wariishi N, Yamahara J, Murakami N, Kitagawa I. Escins-Ia, Ib, IIa, IIb, and IIIa, bioactive triterpene oligoglycosides from the seeds of Aesculus hippocastanum L.: their inhibitory effects on ethanol absorption and hypoglycemic activity on glucose tolerance test. Chem Pharm Bull (Tokyo). 1994 Jun;42(6):1357-9. PMID 8069982
12. Go↑ Yoshikawa M, Murakami T, Matsuda H, Yamahara J, Murakami N, Kitagawa I. Bioactive saponins and glycosides. III. Horse chestnut. (1): The structures, inhibitory effects on ethanol absorption, and hypoglycemic activity of escins Ia, Ib, IIa, IIb, and IIIa from the seeds of Aesculus hippocastanum L. Chem Pharm Bull (Tokyo). 1996 Aug;44(8):1454-64. PMID 8795266
13. Go↑ Suter A, Bommer S, Rechner J. Treatment of patients with venous insufficiency with fresh plant horse chestnut seed extract: a review of 5 clinical studies. Adv Ther. 2006 Jan-Feb;23(1):179-90. PMID 16644618
14. Go↑ Siebert U, Brach M, Sroczynski G, Berla K. Efficacy, routine effectiveness, and safety of horsechestnut seed extract in the treatment of chronic venous insufficiency. A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials and large observational studies. Int Angiol. 2002 Dec;21(4):305-15. PMID 12518108
15. Go↑ Pittler MH, Ernst E. Horse chestnut seed extract for chronic venous insufficiency. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2012 Nov 14;11:CD003230. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD003230.pub4. PMID 23152216
16. Go↑ Heck AM, DeWitt BA, Lukes AL. Potential interactions between alternative therapies and warfarin. American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy July 1, 2000 vol. 57 no. 13 1221-1227

• Bruneton Jean. Pharmacognosy, Phytochemistry, Medicinal Plants. Ed. Tec and Doc. 1997 p. 555
• Cecile Vieu. The horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum L.): botanical, chemical and therapeutic studies. Pharmaceutical sciences. 2014.dumas-01006873

Store in a cool, dry place, away from light. Keep tightly closed, away from the reach of Children and pets.

Do not exceed the daily dose.

This product is not intended to prevent or cure any form of illness or disease.
 

If you are pregnant or nursing ; If you have a medical condition or are in the course of medical treatment ; If you are programmed for theater/operation in the near future, please consult your healthcare practitioner before using this product.

This product cannot replace a varied and balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle.

This product has not been evaluated by the SAHPRA for its quality, safety or intended use.

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