Abstract
Seabuckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) has been used to treat high altitude diseases. The effects of five-week treatment with total flavonoids of seabuckthorn (35, 70, 140 mg/kg, ig) on cobalt chloride (5.5 mg/kg, ip)- and hypobaric chamber (simulating 5,000 m)-induced high-altitude polycythemia in rats were measured. Total flavonoids decreased red blood cell number, hemoglobin, hematocrit, mean corpuscular hemoglobin levels, span of red blood cell electrophoretic mobility, aggregation index of red blood cell, plasma viscosity, whole blood viscosity, and increased deformation index of red blood cell, erythropoietin level in serum. Total flavonoids increased pH, pO2, SpO2, pCO2 levels in arterial blood, and increased Na+, HCO3−, Cl−, but decreased K+ concentrations. Total flavonoids increased mean arterial pressure, left ventricular systolic pressure, end-diastolic pressure, maximal rate of rise and decrease, decreased heart rate and protected right ventricle morphology. Changes in hemodynamic, hematologic parameters, and erythropoietin content suggest that administration of total flavonoids from seabuckthorn may be useful in the prevention of high altitude polycythaemia in rats.
Highlights
More than 140 million people live permanently at high altitude (>2,500 m) in North America, Central America, South America, East Africa, and Asia [1]
Five-week hypoxia and cobalt chloride exposure was associated with a significant increase in red blood cell (RBC), hemoglobin, hematocrit, and mean corpuscular hemoglobin levels compared with the normoxic rats
Total flavonoids improved hematologic parameters which may result in a reduction in erythropoiesis and a minimization of the changes in the right heart, but the exact mechanism/s of action of the total flavonoids on high-altitude polycythemia still needs a considerable amount of work in the future
Summary
More than 140 million people live permanently at high altitude (>2,500 m) in North America, Central America, South America, East Africa, and Asia [1]. One of the health problems associated with life at high altitudes is chronic mountain sickness, called Monge’s disease since it was first described in 1925 by Carlos Monge Medrano in Peru [2]. Exposure to high altitude is associated with an increase in red blood cell (RBC) production, which helps deliver oxygen to tissues more efficiently with mild polycythemia. As one subtype of chronic mountain sickness, high-altitude polycythemia (HAPC) shows increased blood viscosity and other adverse results caused by excessive erythrocytosis, with constitutional symptoms of headaches, confusion, insomnia, and bone pain [3,4]
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