Antihypertensive and Neuroprotective Effects
of Astaxanthin in Experimental Animals

A pre-clinical trial was done on rats by the International Research Center for Traditional Medicine in Japan and published in the January 2005 issue of Biological and Pharmaceutical Bulletin. The study found that Astaxanthin induced a significant reduction in arterial blood pressure in hypertensive rats, but did not decrease blood pressure in rats with normal blood pressure. It also found that Astaxanthin delayed the incidence of stroke in hypertensive rats, that it had a nerve-protecting effect and that it may be able to lessen the harm to the nervous system (and in particular the brain) caused by stroke. The researchers concluded, “these results indicate that Astaxanthin can exert beneficial effects in the protection against hypertension and stroke and in improving memory in vascular dementia.”