In this issue of the journal Arquivos Brasileiros de Cardiologia, important and original research work on rats is published. The work is important because pulmonary hypertension represents a serious pathology that is very difficult to treat. The only way to relieve patients is lung transplantation, but are very well known the difficulties and limitations of this treatment. The work is also original because a lot has been published about the beneficial effects of copaiba oil, such as its anti-inflammatory action, analgesic effect, and ability to prevent infections and improve the healing process. However, the beneficial effect of copaiba oil on pulmonary hypertension had not been described. In this sense, the group led by Adriane Belló Klein has been working for several years on this important issue of pulmonary hypertension in general,^– and the effects of copaiba oil on this particular pathology,^, which has made this research group an international benchmark on this theme.

It is important to mention that pulmonary hypertension induced in rats by monocrotaline produces vascular lesions very similar to those found in patients with this pathology.^, In essence, what the work published in this issue of the journal Arquivos Brasileiros de Cardiologia shows is that the administration of copaiba oil to a group of rats with pulmonary hypertension induced by monocrotaline produces a clear beneficial effect, through the decrease in peripheral blood indicators of oxidative stress, a reduction in pulmonary vascular resistance, and a favorable remodeling of the right ventricle, with a reduction in hypertrophy, which translates into a better systolic function of that ventricle. This finding is very important because it is well known that myocardial hypertrophy is one of the most important causes of heart failure and sudden death. The positive relationship between the degree of hypertrophy and the decrease in oxidative stress shown by the authors is clearly proven in this work by the high r-value obtained when these two variables were correlated. However, and beyond this important correlation, future studies should determine if the beneficial effect on the right ventricle is due to the reduction of oxidative stress or if there is also a direct effect of copaiba oil on myocardial fibers. Perhaps experiments that could be carried out on isolated hearts would make it possible to detect or not a direct impact of this natural agent. In this sense, it is important to mention that the authors of this study also published an interesting work previously where they showed that the administration of copaiba oil decreased apoptosis signals in the hypertrophic right ventricle and attributed the better remodeling to a possible decrease in the apoptosis mentioned above; obviously this same mechanism could be acting in the work that we are commenting now. Nevertheless, here it is important to make some clarifications that may allow a better understanding of what is happening in these hearts with hypertrophy secondary to pulmonary hypertension.

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BACKGROUND: Epidemiological studies have established an association between dyslipidemias and atherosclerosis. Nutritional therapy is a key point in the prevention strategy for individuals who present with risk factors for atherosclerotic disease. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effects of green tea (Camellia sinensis) in patients with dyslipidemias. METHODS: The study included 33 patients aged between 21 and 71 years who had a low-fat diet (25-35% of total calories and 200 mg of cholesterol per day). They were randomized for two sequential treatments: 250-mg capsules of green tea dry extract or placebo for a total period of 16 weeks; each patient received green tea (Camellia sinensis) for eight weeks and placebo for another eight weeks. RESULTS: Baseline lipid values (mg/dL) were: HDL-cholesterol 60.7 ± 7.3; total cholesterol 255 ± 30.9; LDL-cholesterol 158.8 ± 29.0; triglycerides 169.0 ± 61.3 and Apo-B 120.2 ± 18.9. Mean lipid variations induced by the use of green tea (Camellia sinensis) showed a 3.9% reduction (p = 0.006) in total cholesterol concentrations and a 4.5% reduction (p = 0.026) in LDL-cholesterol. The intake of green tea did not significantly influence HDL-cholesterol, triglyceride, and Apo-B levels. Non-significant results were found in the assessment of blood lipids (total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol) with the use of placebo. CONCLUSION: A beneficial effect of green tea (Camellia sinensis) was demonstrated, with a significant reduction of total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol levels in eight weeks, in the patients studied.