Abstract
Eucommia ulmoides Oliv. leaf is a traditional Chinese antihypertensive and antidiabetic medicine. We examined the effects of chronic Eucommia leaf extract (ELE) administration on artery function and morphology in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs). ELE was orally administered via normal diet ad libitum to six-week-old male SHRs at a concentration of 5% for seven weeks. Acetylcholine (ACh)-induced endothelium-dependent relaxation, sodium nitroprusside (SNP)-induced endothelium-independent relaxation, plasma nitric oxide (NO) levels, and media thickness were assessed. ELE significantly improved ACh-induced aortic endothelium-dependent relaxation but did not affect SNP-induced endothelium-independent relaxation in the SHRs, as compared to the animals receiving normal diet. Plasma NO levels and media thickness were significantly increased and decreased, respectively, in the ELE-treated SHRs. Therefore, long-term ELE administration may effectively improve vascular function by increasing plasma NO levels and bioavailability, and by preventing vascular hypertrophy in the SHR aorta.
Highlights
According to a World Health Organisation report, cardiovascular disease (CVD), including heart attacks, heart failure, kidney disease, and stroke, accounts for approximately 17 million deaths per year, corresponding to almost one-third of total global mortality [1]
Systolic Blood Pressure (SBP) was measured by the tail cuff method and the data were expressed as ∆SBP, which was the difference between the SBP on day-1 and the SBP measured three or seven weeks after the beginning of the experiment
These findings indicate that geniposidic acid (GEA) might be the major active constituent responsible for the restoration of vascular function during chronic administration of Eucommia leaf extract (ELE)
Summary
According to a World Health Organisation report, cardiovascular disease (CVD), including heart attacks, heart failure, kidney disease, and stroke, accounts for approximately 17 million deaths per year, corresponding to almost one-third of total global mortality [1]. Maintenance of vascular function is important in the prevention of CVD as well as in hypertension management. Endothelial dysfunction is characterized by reduced NO production or activity and increased concentrations of endothelium-derived contracting factors [8]. The antihypertensive effects of ELE were reported by in vivo and in vitro studies, indicating that ELE exhibited a dose-dependent blood-pressure-lowering effect in the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) [19] and elicited an endothelium-dependent, NO-mediated vasorelaxation of the isolated rat aorta in vitro [20]; long-term intake decreased blood pressure in human subjects with high normal blood pressure and mild hypertension [21,22]. There is little information about the effects of long-term ELE intake on vascular function. We examined the effects of chronic administration of ELE on SHR aortic endothelial function by examining acetylcholine (ACh)-induced relaxation and plasma NO levels, and on morphological changes by immunohistochemical analysis
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