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Coronary artery disease is a major cause of mortality in modern times. Lifestyle changes due to
urbanization have predisposed to atherosclerosis which is the basic lesion in CAD. Antioxidants can
affect progression and regression of atherosclerosis by scavenging free radicals. This study has
attempted to unravel the effects of plant antioxidants on the course of CAD. For the purpose of this study
the antioxidants used were flavonoids derived from Terminalia plant. One hundred known patients of
heart disease were taken out of which 80 were given antioxidants regularly. Twenty patients served as
controls. At the end of nine months of follow up, all the patients were evaluated for laboratory findings
which included S. Cholesterol, S. Triglycerides, S. HDL-C and S. LDL-C. In addition, any improvement
or deterioration in dyspnoea, pain chest and total daily nitrate intake was also noted before and after the
follow up for both the groups. It was found that the change in the parameters was significant for the
experimental group. S. Cholesterol and S. LDL-C decreased while S. HDL-C increased. In addition,
improvement in the NYHA class of dyspnoea and pain chest was noted in the patients receiving
flavonoids. Thus, it is concluded that flavonoids obtained from Terminalia definitely affect the course of
CAD favourably taken as an additional agent.
Key words: Coronary artery disease, phyto antioxidants, dyspnoea, Terminalia.