Study on the physiological benefits of food compounds on vascular health and their underlying mechanisms

This study demonstrated the vasorelaxation effect of small peptides and their underlying mechanisms as a novel function of blood pressure-lowering peptides. In particular, the small peptide Trp-His elicits not only a vasorelaxation effect in isolated aorta but also an anti-atherosclerotic effect in vivo. Viewing the composition off ood products as a mixture of many components, the synergistic effect on vasorelaxation by the combination of multifood compounds was also investigated. In this review article, we summarize the aforementioned beneficial effects of food compounds on vascular functions as well as the intestinal absorption and bioavailability of these bioactive peptides, clarified by using LC-MS and/or MALDI-MS imaging analyses.