Abstract
The effects of acidic polysaccharides purified from Gastrodia rhizome on blood pressure and serum lipid levels in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) fed a high-fat diet were investigated. Acidic polysaccharides were purified from crude polysaccharides by DEAE-Sepharose CL-6B. Thirty-six male SHR were randomly divided into three groups: Gastrodia rhizome crude polysaccharide (A), acidic polysaccharide (B) groups, and a control group (C). A 5-week oral administration of all treatment groups was performed daily in 3- to 8-week-old SHRs with a dose of 6 mg/kg of body weight/day. After 5 weeks of treatment, total cholesterol in the acidic polysaccharide group, at 69.7 ± 10.6 mg/dL, was lower than in the crude polysaccharide group (75.0 ± 6.0 mg/dL) and the control group (89.2 ± 7.4 mg/dL). In addition, triglyceride and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels in the acidic polysaccharide group were lower than in the crude polysaccharide and control groups. The atherogenic index of the acidic polysaccharide group was 46.3% lower than in the control group. Initial blood pressure after the initial three weeks on the high-fat diet averaged 195.9 ± 3.3 mmHg among all rats. Compared with the initial blood pressure, the final blood pressure in the control group was increased by 22.8 mmHg, whereas it decreased in the acidic polysaccharide group by 14.9 mmHg. These results indicate that acidic polysaccharides from Gastrodia rhizome reduce hypertension and improve serum lipid levels.
Highlights
Hypertension, known as high blood pressure, is a major public health problem due to its high prevalence and complications [1]
Gastrodia rhizome has various biological actions [15,16,17,18], the antihypertensive effect of acidic polysaccharides purified from Gastrodia rhizome in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) fed a high-fat diet has not yet been studied
Our results reveal that both crude (Group A) and acidic polysaccharides (Group B) are able to reduce blood pressure (Figure 2), total cholesterol (TC), TG, and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) (Table 2) in SHR fed a high-fat diet
Summary
Hypertension, known as high blood pressure, is a major public health problem due to its high prevalence and complications [1]. The major physiological substances of Gastrodia elata Blume are gastrodin, parishin, and vanillyl alcohol, glycoprotein, in addition to polysaccharides, including α-D-glucan [11,12,13]. Gastrodia rhizome has various biological actions [15,16,17,18], the antihypertensive effect of acidic polysaccharides purified from Gastrodia rhizome in SHR fed a high-fat diet has not yet been studied. This study investigated the antihypertensive potential of acidic polysaccharides purified from Gastrodia rhizome and evaluated the concentrations of serum lipids, including total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol in SHR fed a high-fat diet
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