Abstract
Purpose: To determine the role of arecoline in cardiovascular modulation in rats.Methods: After rats were anaesthetized with intraperitoneal urethane (1.4 g/kg body weight), saline or arecoline (at doses of 1.0, 3.0 and 10.0 mg/kg) was intraperitoneally administered, and blood pressure (BP) was continuously recorded using a physiological apparatus. Mean arterial pressure (MAP), maximum changes in MAP and reaction time due to arecoline stimulations were calculated and analyzed.Results: Arecoline induced biphasic modulation in BP, including an initial downregulation followed by a subsequent upregulation. The MAP and maximum change in MAP exhibited a concentration-dependent effect in the downregulation phase (p < 0.001 within each group), but not in the upregulation phase (p > 0.05 within each group), while BP reaction time showed a dose-dependent prolongation in both downregulation and upregulation phases (ps < 0.01 within each group). Remarkably, arecoline-induced BP downregulation more rapidly and drastically than upregulation in each arecoline group.Conclusion: These results indicate that arecoline exerts a complex effect in cardiovascular modulation that should be considered as side effects in the clinical use of arecoline and/or with the habitual chewing of areca nuts.
 Keywords: Arecoline, Blood pressure, Downregulation, Upregulation
Highlights
Areca nuts are the fruits of the Areca catechu palm tree, which are endemic to South and Southeast Asia
Many studies have demonstrated that areca nut Arecoline is the main bioactive alkaloid in areca nuts, and it has several pharmacological effects that are parasympathetic in nature [5]
Many studies recorded that chewing areca nuts raised the risk of cardiovascular disorders [10,11,12,13], while other studies reported that arecoline decreased or increased blood pressure (BP) and heart rate [14,15,16]
Summary
Areca (betel) nuts are the fruits of the Areca catechu palm tree, which are endemic to South and Southeast Asia (especially in China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and New Guinea). Arecoline is the main bioactive alkaloid in areca nuts, and it has several pharmacological effects that are parasympathetic in nature [5]. Because of the parasympathetic features, arecoline causes cardiovascular modulations, but with contradictory effects. Many studies recorded that chewing areca nuts raised the risk of cardiovascular disorders [10,11,12,13], while other studies reported that arecoline decreased or increased blood pressure (BP) and heart rate [14,15,16]. The present study aimed to explore whether and how arecoline modulated BP, to provide a reference for clinical practice and a perspective for preclinical investigations on the pharmacological and toxicological characteristics of arecoline, or areca nuts in general.
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