The progress of the research on cardio-vascular effects and acting mechanism of polydatin.

Rhizoma Polygoni Cuspidati, a Chinese herbal drug, has actions of dispelling dampness, alleviating jaundice, clearing heat, subsiding toxin, activating blood, and removing stasis. Polydatin (PD), one of its chief active ingredients, has been proved by modern pharmacological studies to possess extensive cardiovascular pharmacological activity, showing marked effects on protecting cardio-myocyte, dilating blood vessel, antagonizing platelet aggregation, thrombosis, and atherosclerosis. The progress of the research on cardiovascular pharmacological actions and the acting mechanism of PD was reviewed in this paper.