My father is suffering from Macular Degeneration (a disease of the eye).
Recently, a friend recommended a substance imported from France called
"Procyanidin-95."  It is supposedly an extract from grape seeds that
acts as a "free radical scavenger."  Does anyone have any info
or comments upon this?  He's already taking Ocuvite in order to slow
the progression of his vision loss, and is reluctant to take something
that may be of either no use, or dangerous.  His opthomologist has
never even heard of the stuff.

I noticed your inquiry about procyanidin on the 'net.  for my own reasons I check out any leads on disorders of the macula, so I checked it out on Medline.  None of the articles mentioned macular degeneration.  Apparently the substance is a free radical scavenger and a hypertensive, but I wouldn't advise adding it to one's medication list without running it by one's physician.  Apparently procyanidin can be derived from various plants; the authors of the third abstract used grapes.  Following is my entire download -- I didn't edit for usefulness.

Regards,

Mary A. Firestone

CHEMID
Procyanidin
RN  - 4852-22-6                                                    N1  - 2H-1-Benzopyran-3,4,5,7-tetrol, 2-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-2-((2-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-3,4-dihydro-5-,7-dihydroxy-2H-1-benzopyran-3-yl)oxy)-3,4-dihydro-  [RTECS]
NM  - Procyanidin  [MESH]
LO  - CANCERLIT; HSTAR; MEDLINE; MED80; MED85; MED90; MESH; RTECS; TOXLINE; TOXLINE65; TOXLIT65                                
MEDLINE                                                                   1
UI  - 94161926
AU  - Bae YS; Burger JF; Steynberg JP; Ferreira D; Hemingway RW
TI  - Flavan and procyanidin glycosides from the bark of blackjack oak.
AB  - The bark of blackjack oak contains (+)-catechin, (-)-epicatechin,  (+)-3-O-[beta-D-glucopyranosyl]-catechin, catechin-(4  alpha-->8)-catechin, epicatechin-(4 beta-->8)-catechin as well as  the novel 3-O-[beta-D-glucopyranosyl]-catechin-(4  alpha-->8)-catechin and  3-O-[alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1-->6)-beta-D-glucopyranosyl]-catec-  hin, as major components. The latter rutinoside of catechin is  especially interesting because of the exceptionally small J2,3  C-ring coupling. The glucoside of catechin-(4 alpha-->8)-catechin  is only the second proanthocyanidin found in nature in which a  3-O-glycoside is present in the upper 'extender unit' of a dimer. AD  - Southern Forest Experiment Station, USDA Forest Service,  Pineville, LA 71360.
SO  - Phytochemistry 1994 Jan;35(2):473-8

2
UI  - 95253116
AU  - Vennat B; Bos MA; Pourrat A; Bastide P
TI  - Procyanidins from tormentil: fractionation and study of the  anti-radical activity towards superoxide anion.
AB  - A standardised water-soluble extract was prepared from rhizomes  of Potentilla tormentilla. The procyanidins in the extract were  fractionated according to their degree of polymerisation by  chromatography on Sephadex LH20. The anti-radical activities of  the different fractions towards superoxide anion were compared  when pentamers and hexamers were found to be the most active.
AD  - Laboratoire de Pharmacie Galenique et Pharmacotechnie  Industrielle, UFR Pharmacie, Clermont-Ferrand, France.
SO  - Biol Pharm Bull 1994 Dec;17(12):1613-5

3
UI  - 94296471
AU  - Maffei Facino R; Carini M; Aldini G; Bombardelli E; Morazzoni  P; Morelli R
TI  - Free radicals scavenging action and anti-enzyme activities of  procyanidines from Vitis vinifera. A mechanism for their  capillary protective action.
AB  - The scavenging by procyanidines (polyphenol oligomers from Vitis  vinifera seeds, CAS 85594-37-2) of reactive oxygen species (ROS)  involved in the onset (HO degrees) and the maintenance of  microvascular injury (lipid radicals R degrees, RO degrees, ROO  degrees) has been studied in phosphatidylcholine liposomes (PCL),  using two different models of free radical generation: a)  iron-promoted and b) ultrasound-induced lipid peroxidation. In a)  lipid peroxidation was assessed by determination of  thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS); in b) by  determination of conjugated dienes, formation of breakdown  carbonyl products (as 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazones) and loss of  native phosphatidylcholine. In the iron-promoted (Fenton-driven)  model, procyanidines had a remarkable, dose-dependent  antilipoperoxidant activity (IC50 = 2.5 mumol/l), more than one  order of magnitude greater than that of the monomeric unit  catechin (IC50 = 50 mumol/l), activity which is due, at least in  part, to their metal-chelating properties. In the more specific  model b), which discriminates between the initiator (hydroxyl  radical from water sonolysis) and the propagator species of lipid  peroxidation (the peroxyl radical, from autooxidation of  C-centered radicals), procyanidines are highly effective in  preventing conjugated diene formation in both the induction (IC50  = 0.1 mumol/l) and propagation (IC50 = 0.05 mumol/l) phases (the  scavenging effect of alpha-tocopherol was weaker, with IC50 of  1.5 and 1.25 mumol/l). In addition, procyanidines at 0.5 mumol/l  markedly delayed the onset of the breakdown phase (48 h), totally  inhibiting during this time the formation of degradation products  (the lag-time induced by alpha-tocopherol was only of 24 h at 10  mumol/l concentration). The HO degrees entrapping capacity of  these compounds was further confirmed by UV studies and by  electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy, using DMPO as spin  trapper: procyanidines markedly reduced, in a dose-dependent  fashion, the signal intensity of the DMPO-OH radical spin adduct  (100% inhibition at 40 mumol/l). The results of the second part  of this study show that procyanidines, in addition to free  radical scavenging action, strongly and non-competitively,  inhibit xanthine oxidase activity, the enzyme which triggers the  oxy radical cascade (IC50 = 2.4 mumol/l). In addition  procyanidines non-competitively inhibit the activities of the  proteolytic enzymes collagenase (IC50 = 38 mumol/l) and elastase  (IC50 = 4.24 mumol/l) and of the glycosidases hyaluronidase and  beta-glucuronidase (IC50 = 80 mumol/l and 1.1 mumol/l), involved  in the turnover of the main structural components of the  extravascular matrix collagen, elastin and hyaluronic  acid.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
AD  - Istituto Chimico Farmaceutico Tossicologico, Milan, Italy.
SO  - Arzneimittelforschung 1994 May;44(5):592-601

4
UI  - 94180283
AU  - Vennat B; Gross D; Pourrat A; Legret P
TI  - [{*filter*}freeze-dried forms of procyanidins]
AB  - {*filter*}freeze-dried forms based on procyanidins were prepared.  Effort was focused on the choice of the binder and the  determination of the optimal conditions of freeze-drying.
AD  - Laboratoire de Pharmacie Galenique et de Pharmacotechnie,  Faculte de Pharmacie, Clermont-Ferrand, France.
SO  - J Pharm Belg 1993 Nov-Dec;48(6):430-6

5
UI  - 94077918
AU  - Cheng JT; Hsu FL; Chen HF
TI  - Antihypertensive principles from the leaves of Melastoma  candidum.
AB  - Three active principles were isolated from the leaf of Melastoma  candidum using the screening of hypotensive effects on  spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Intravenous injection of  castalagin, procyanidin B-2, or helichrysoside into SHR lowered  the mean {*filter*} pressure in a dose-dependent manner, with  helichrysoside being the most potent compound. Plasma  noradrenaline (NA) levels, both basal in SHR and elevated in  normal rats through cold-stress stimulation, were attenuated by  these compounds in a way which was not influenced by  adrenalectomy. Decrease of NA release from sympathetic nerves was  assumed to be responsible. Moreover, the hypertensive effect of  various vasoconstrictors in anesthetized rats was reduced by  helichrysoside. The same results were also observed in castalagin  or procyanidin B-2 treated animals. The results indicate that the  three principles possess the ability to lower {*filter*} pressure  through a decrease of sympathetic tone as well as due to direct  vasodilatation in SHRs.
AD  - Department of Pharmacology, College of Medicine, National Cheng  Kung University, Tainan City, Taiwan, Republic of China.
SO  - Planta Med 1993 Oct;59(5):405-7

6
UI  - 93234626
AU  - Sanz MJ; Terencio MC; Paya M
TI  - Pharmacological actions of a new procyanidin polymer from  Pistacia lentiscus L.
AD  - Departament de Farmacologia, Facultat de Farmacia, Universitat  de Valencia, Spain.
SO  - Pharmazie 1993 Feb;48(2):152-

Hello Steve,
I am wondering if "Procyanidin-95. is anything like Pycnogenol?  
Pycnogenol is an extract of Pine bark in the health cooking.net">food stores.
There is a guy named Bill Sardi, out of Los Angelos California,
he is highly praised from a radio Program called "Heres to your
Health" out of Tampa Florida.   He is very knowledgeable about
Vitamin supplements for the Health of the Eyes, and Macular Degeneration
How is the Ocuvite working in stabilizing the Optic Nerve?
My Brother suffers from Optic Nerve Trauma leaving him blind in both
eyes.  He needs something to keep his Optic Nerves from degenerating.
Hope this helps you.
Jeff.