Faculty Opinions recommendation of Pioglitazone exerts protective effects against stroke in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats, independently of blood pressure.

Oryeongsan (ORS), a traditional medicine used to regulate body fluids, has a long history of use as a diuretic in Korea, China, and Japan. ORS is commonly thought to lower blood pressure, but high-quality data on its effects are sparse. The purpose of this study was to determine the antihypertensive and renal protective effects of ORS in rats with hypertension. Spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) were divided into two groups with similar mean baseline systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP). Then, 10 mL/kg of vehicle (distilled water) or 200 mg/kg of ORS extract were administered orally once a day for 3 weeks. SBP and DBP were measured at weeks 1, 2, and 3. At the end of the experiment, blood was collected, and kidneys were removed for histology. By the 2nd and 3rd week after initiation of treatment, the ORS-treated group had significantly lower SBP than control-treated rats (191.3 ± 6.5 vs. 206.3 ± 9.8 mmHg, p = 0.022 at the 2nd week; 195.8 ± 7.8 vs. 217.0 ± 8.1 mmHg, p = 0.003 at the 3rd week, respectively). The ORS-treated group trended toward having a lower DBP than control, but there was no significant difference. Blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and serum creatinine (Cr) were not different between the ORS-treated and control groups (BUN: 23.7 ± 1.1 vs. 22.7 ± 2.8 mg/dL, p = 0.508; Cr: 19.0 ± 2.2 vs. 21.6 ± 2.1 μM, p = 0.083, respectively). The percentage of renal tissue affected by tubulointerstitial fibrosis was significantly lower in the ORS-treated group (1.68 ± 0.60) compared to controls (3.17 ± 0.96, p = 0.019). These findings suggest that treatment with ORS reduces SBP and ameliorates renal damage in SHR.

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Epoxyeicosatrienoic acid analog EET-B attenuates post-myocardial infarction remodeling in spontaneously hypertensive rats

Clinical Science ◽

10.1042/cs20180728 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 133 (8) ◽

pp. 939-951 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Jan Neckář ◽

Md. Abdul Hye Khan ◽

Garrett J. Gross ◽

Michaela Cyprová ◽

Jaroslav Hrdlička ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Myocardial Infarction ◽

Blood Pressure ◽

Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats ◽

Post Myocardial Infarction ◽

Heme Oxygenase 1 ◽

Sham Operation ◽

Protective Effects ◽

Hypertensive Rats ◽

Tissue Samples ◽

Spontaneously Hypertensive

AbstractEpoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs) and their synthetic analogs have cardiovascular protective effects. Here, we investigated the action of a novel EET analog EET-B on the progression of post-myocardial infarction (MI) heart failure in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Adult male SHR were divided into vehicle- and EET-B (10 mg/kg/day; p.o., 9 weeks)-treated groups. After 2 weeks of treatment, rats were subjected to 30-min left coronary artery occlusion or sham operation. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) and echocardiography (ECHO) measurements were performed at the beginning of study, 4 days before, and 7 weeks after MI. At the end of the study, tissue samples were collected for histological and biochemical analyses. We demonstrated that EET-B treatment did not affect blood pressure and cardiac parameters in SHR prior to MI. Fractional shortening (FS) was decreased to 18.4 ± 1.0% in vehicle-treated MI rats compared with corresponding sham (30.6 ± 1.0%) 7 weeks following MI induction. In infarcted SHR hearts, EET-B treatment improved FS (23.7 ± 0.7%), markedly increased heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) immunopositivity in cardiomyocytes and reduced cardiac inflammation and fibrosis (by 13 and 19%, respectively). In conclusion, these findings suggest that EET analog EET-B has beneficial therapeutic actions to reduce cardiac remodeling in SHR subjected to MI.

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Protective Effects of Imidapril on He-Ne Laser-Induced Thrombosis in Cerebral Blood Vessels of Stroke-Prone Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats

Thrombosis and Haemostasis ◽

10.1055/s-0037-1613899 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 83 (05) ◽

pp. 722-727 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Takanori Noguchi ◽

Junji Seki ◽

J. C. Giddings ◽

Junichiro Yamamoto ◽

Yasuto Sasaki

Keyword(s):

Nitric Oxide ◽

Blood Pressure ◽

Blood Vessels ◽

Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats ◽

Protective Effects ◽

Cerebral Thrombosis ◽

Cerebral Blood Vessels ◽

Hypertensive Rats ◽

Concurrent Administration ◽

Spontaneously Hypertensive

SummaryInhibitors of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) have been developed recently for therapeutic purposes in hypertension and ischemic cardiovascular diseases. Ogiku et al. (1) reported that one such inhibitor, imidapril, significantly prolonged survival in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSP). The present study was designed to investigate the effect of imidapril on cerebral blood vessels in SHRSP to clarify role of the ACE inhibitor in mechanisms of cerebral thrombosis and stroke. Imidapril was administered orally at 1.0 and 5.0 mg/kg/day for 3 weeks from the age of 7 weeks, and was shown to prevent the usual increase in blood pressure seen in these animals. It also delayed He-Ne laser-induced cerebral thrombosis and increased significantly the plasma concentration of nitric oxide metabolites (NO2/NO3). To confirm the association between nitric oxide (NO) and these effects of imidapril, an inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase, NG - nitro-L-arginine methyl ester hydrochloride (L-NAME) was dissolved in drinking water and administered to the animals for 3 weeks. Four of six rats died from stroke when L-NAME was given alone. When imidapril (5.0 mg/kg/day) was administered with L-NAME, however, the animals showed no signs or symptoms of stroke. In these instances, therefore, the concurrent administration of L-NAME with imidapril reversed significantly the effects of imidapril. Intravenous injection of imidaprilat (100 µg/kg), an active metabolite of imidapril, also decreased blood pressure significantly and increased the plasma levels of NO2/NO3 after 5 min. Moreover, imidaprilat enlarged arteriolar diameters and caused an increase in red cell velocity and mean blood flow in pial arterioles after 15 min.The results strongly suggested that imidapril protects cerebral vessels in SHRSP by elevating the release of NO, thereby improving the cerebral circulation and reducing the tendency to thrombosis and stroke.

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