Genetically modified rice with antihypertensive peptides may lower high BP

Peptides derived from food protein have the potential to become antihypertensive agents with relatively few negative side effects.In a new study researchers administered multiple antihypertensive peptides, extracted from the transgenic rice seed intragastrically into spontaneously hypertensive rats.

They found that transgenic rice containing several anti-hypertensive peptides lowered blood pressure in animal studies.

In future taking blood pressure medication could be as simple as eating a spoonful of rice with fewer side effects than current blood pressure medicines. The research has been published in the ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease and stroke. A common class of synthetic drugs used to treat hypertension, called ACE inhibitors, target the angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE), which is involved in blood pressure regulation. However, ACE inhibitors often have unpleasant side effects, such as dry cough, headache, skin rashes and kidney impairment. In contrast, natural ACE inhibitors found in some foods, including milk, eggs, fish, meat and plants, might have fewer side effects. But purifying large amounts of these ACE-inhibitory peptides from foods is expensive and time-consuming. Le Qing Qu and colleagues wanted to genetically modify rice -- one of the world's most commonly eaten foods -- to produce a mixture of ACE-inhibitory peptides from other food sources.