The present study was designed to evaluate the antihypertensive effect of GaMiSamHwangSaSimTang (HVC1), a 30% ethanol extract of a mixture comprising Pruni Cortex, Scutellariae Radix, Coptidis Rhizoma, and Rhei Rhizoma, on spontaneous hypertensive rats (SHRs). The systolic blood pressure (SBP) was measured every 4 or 7 days using the noninvasive tail cuff system. The vasorelaxant effects on iso...

Ischemia-reperfusion causes endothelial dysfunction. Prolongation of acidosis during initial cardiac reperfusion limits infarct size in animal models, but the effects of acidic reperfusion on vascular function are unknown. The present work analyzes the effects of acidic reoxygenation on vascular responses to different agonists in rat aortic rings. Arterial rings obtained from Sprague-Dawley rat...

The relation between endothelin and acetylcholine (ACh) was examined and compared in aortas from Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats and from stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSP). The relaxation produced by ACh in an endothelin-induced contraction was less in aortas from WKY rats than in those from SHRSP. In aortas from WKY rats but not in those from SHRSP, the contraction produced by endot...

Background and Aims: Diabetes mellitus is accompanied with higher incidence of cardiovascular disorders. There is some evidence on antidiabetic potential of silymarin. In this study the effect of chronic administration of silymarin on contractile-relaxation response of thoracic aorta of diabetic rats was investigated. Methods: In this experimental study, male Wistar rats were divided into 5 gro...

We contrasted in normotensive and hypertensive rats the effect of inhibition of nitric oxide synthesis on isometric tension development by aortic rings bathed in Krebs' bicarbonate buffer. NG-Nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) (3 x 10(-4) mol/L) increased tension (82 +/- 11% of the response to 120 mmol/L potassium chloride) in rings of thoracic aorta taken from hypertensive rats 7 to 14 day...

Previous studies have demonstrated the anti-hypertensive effects of Hibiscus sabdariffa L. (HS) in both humans and experimental animals. To explore the mechanisms of the anti-hypertensive effect of the HS, we examined the effects of a crude methanolic extract of the calyces of HS (HSE) on vascular reactivity in isolated aortas from spontaneously hypertensive rats. HSE relaxed, concentration-dep...

BACKGROUND The increasing incidence of diabetes mellitus (DM) is of great clinical significance. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether exposure of endothelium-intact aortic rings to simvastatin could have a vasorelaxant effect in diabetic rats. METHODS For induction of diabetes, streptozotocin (STZ) (60 mg/kg, i.p., single dose) was used. After 1 month, the cumulative reaction of iso...

The root of Ostericum koreanum Maximowicz has been used as a traditional medicine called "Kanghwal" in Korea (or "Qianghuo" in China). The purpose of this study was to investigate the vasorelaxant activity and mechanism of action of an ethanol extract of the O. koreanum root (EOK). We used isolated rat aortic rings to assess the effects of EOK on various vasorelaxant or vasoconstriction factors...

The bolus intravenous injection of a novel medium-chain triglyceride:fish oil emulsion (MCT:FO) was recently proposed as a tool to provoke a rapid and sustained increase of cell phospholipid content in long-chain polyunsaturated omega3 fatty acids, for instance in selected subjects prior to anesthesia and surgery. In this study, therefore, the possible protective effect of MCT:FO upon aortic en...