Abstract 620: Chronic Allium Bakeri Intake Alleviated Hypertension and Aortic Media Thickness in 2-Kidney, 1-Clip Rats.

Abstract

Objective: Allium bakeri (AB) known as “rakkyo” and Allium sativum known as “garlic” contain alliin. Alliin easily turns into allicin, which is reported to decrease blood pressure (BP) through activating the excitatory ion channel transient receptor potential ankyrin-1. Thus, it is suggested that these vegetable decrease BP. Actually, garlic is reported to decrease BP and aortic media thickness in hypertensive animal models. However, it is practically difficult that garlic shows the effects, because it can hardly be eaten without heating and allicin is thermolabile. On the other hand, AB is usually eaten without heating. Therefore, in this study, we tested whether AB intake alleviates hypertension and aortic media thickness in hypertensive rats. Method: We used 2-kidney, 1-clip (2K1C) renovascular hypertension model. Male Sprague-Dawley rats (6 wo) were treated with sham operation (SHAM) or clipping the left renal artery (2K1C). After surgery, SHAM and 2K1C rats were respectively divided into 2 groups, which received a control diet (CONT) or a diet containing 1.0 % (w/w) freeze-dried AB powder for 7 weeks (AB). The systolic BP (SBP) was measured by a tail-cuff method every week. At the end of the protocol, mean arterial BP (MAP) was measured in each rat under anesthesia. Then, thoracic aorta was removed and the section of aorta was stained with hematoxylin and eosin. Results: From the 2nd week after surgery until the end of the protocol, SBP in 2K1C-CONT went up significantly compared with SHAM-CONT (174 ± 7 vs 120 ± 5 mmHg, at the end of the protocol, P < 0.01). However, SBP in 2K1C-AB did not go up through the protocol (127 ± 7 mmHg, P < 0.01 with 2K1C-CONT, at the end). In addition, the AB diet showed no significant effects on SBP in SHAM. These observations in SBP were similar to in MAP at the end of the protocol. The aortic media thickening was observed in 2K1C-CONT compared with SHAM-CONT. In 2K1C-AB, the thickness was significantly decreased compared with 2K1C-CONT, and was not significantly different from that in SHAM-AB. There were not significant differences between SHAM-CONT and SHAM-AB. Conclusion: Chronic intake of Allium bakeri, which can be eaten without heating, alleviated hypertension and aortic media thickness in rats with renovascular hypertension.