Abstract
Ginseng, the root of Panax ginseng, has been used as folk medicine in the treatment of various diseases for thousands of years in China. Ginsenoside Rb 1 (Rb 1), one of the effective components of ginseng, has been reported to release nitric oxide and decrease intracellular free Ca 2+ in cardiac myocytes, both of which play important roles in antihypertrophic effect. This study was to investigate the potential effect of Rb 1 on right ventricular hypertrophy (RVH) induced by monocrotaline (MCT) and its possible influence on calcineurin (CaN) signal trasnsduction pathway. MCT-treated animals were administered with Rb 1 (10 and 40 mg /kg) from day 1 to day 14 (preventive administration) or from day 15 to day 28 (therapeutic administration), or with vehicle as corresponding controls. After 2 weeks, significantly hypertrophic reactions, including RVH index and the expressions of atrial natriuretic peptide mRNA, appeared in right ventricle of all MCT-treated animals ( p < 0.05), which were significantly decreased with some improvements of myocardial pathomorphology in both Rb 1 prevention- and therapy-groups ( p < 0.05). Similarly, MCT-treatment caused the high expressions of mRNA and/or proteins of CaN, NFAT 3 and GATA 4 from cardiocytes ( p < 0.05) and Rb 1 could alleviate the expressions of these factors above ( p < 0.05). These results suggest that Rb 1 treatment can inhibit the RVH induced by MCT, which may be involved in its inhibitory effects on CaN signal transduction pathway.
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