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. 2015 Dec 9;20(12):21971-81.
doi: 10.3390/molecules201219826.

The Restorative Effects of Eucommia ulmoides Oliver Leaf Extract on Vascular Function in Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats

Shingo Hosoo  1 , Masahiro Koyama  2 , Mai Kato  3 , Tetsuya Hirata  4 , Yasuyo Yamaguchi  5 , Hiroo Yamasaki  6 , Atsunori Wada  7 , Keiji Wada  8 , Sansei Nishibe  9 , Kozo Nakamura  10
Affiliations

The Restorative Effects of Eucommia ulmoides Oliver Leaf Extract on Vascular Function in Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats

Shingo Hosoo et al. Molecules. .

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.

Keywords: ACh-induced endothelium-dependent relaxation; Eucommia leaf extract; aortic media thickness; nitric oxide; spontaneously hypertensive rat.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Representative acetylcholine (ACh) and sodium nitroprusside (SNP) relaxation profiles of thoracic aorta rings from the test animals. (a) ACh-Wistar Kyoto rat (WKY) group; (b) ACh-spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR)-control group; (c) ACh-SHR-Eucommia leaf extract (ELE) group; (d) SNP-WKY group; (e) SNP-SHR-control group; and (f) SNP-SHR-ELE group. ACh and SNP were added cumulatively at concentrations of 10−9–10−4 M and 10−11–10−5 M, respectively, to 0.3 μM phenylephrine (PE)-contracted thoracic aorta rings. PV, papaverine.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(a) Endothelium-dependent relaxation curve induced by acetylcholine (ACh) and (b) endothelium-independent relaxation curve induced by sodium nitroprusside (SNP) in thoracic aortic rings from the indicated treatment groups. The values represent the means ± SE; * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, as compared with the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR)-control group; # p < 0.05, ## p < 0.01, as compared with the Wistar Kyoto rat (WKY) group. ELE, Eucommia leaf extract.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Plasma nitric oxide (NO) levels in the indicated treatment groups. The values represent the means ± SE; * p < 0.05, compared with the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR)-control group; # p < 0.05, compared with the Wistar Kyoto rat (WKY) group. ELE, Eucommia leaf extract.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Representative histological alpha smooth muscle actin-stained images of the thoracic aorta of rats in the (a) Wistar Kyoto rat; (b) spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR)-control; and (c) SHR-Eucommia leaf extract (ELE) groups. #1: arterial wall; #2: arterial media; scale bars = 100 μm.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Thoracic aorta ring media thickness in the indicated treatment groups. The values represent the means ± SE; * p < 0.05, as compared with the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR)-control group; # p < 0.05, as compared with the Wistar Kyoto rat (WKY) group. ELE, Eucommia leaf extract.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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