Shaukat B, Mehmood MH, Murtaza B, Javaid F, Khan MT, Farrukh M, Rana R, Shahzad M.
Ajuga bracteosa Exerts Antihypertensive Activity in l-NAME-Induced Hypertension Possibly through Modulation of Oxidative Stress, Proinflammatory Cytokines, and the Nitric Oxide/Cyclic Guanosine Monophosphate Pathway.
ACS OMEGA 2022;
7:33307-33319. [PMID:
36157749 PMCID:
PMC9494645 DOI:
10.1021/acsomega.2c03888]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2022] [Accepted: 08/30/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Ajuga bracteosa has been used in traditional medicine to treat hypertension and other ailments. The present study has been designed to investigate the beneficial effects of A. bracteosa in l-nitro arginine methyl ester (l-NAME)-induced hypertensive rats. Hypertension was induced by intraperitoneal injection of l-NAME (185 μmol kg-1 i.p.). The aqueous methanol extract of A. bracteosa (AMEAB, 250 and 500 mg kg-1) and coumarin (30 and 70 mg kg-1) were administered orally from day 8 to day 35 of the study. In vivo antihypertensive activity was assessed by measuring the blood pressure using a PowerLab data system. The effects of the AMEAB and coumarin on nitric oxide (NO), cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), the tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α), and oxidative stress markers were also assessed using kit methods. Phytochemical profiling of the AMEAB was carried out through high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) where quercetin, gallic acid, caffeic acid, vanillic acid, benzoic acid, syringic acid, p-coumaric acid, and ferulic acid were labeled as plant constituents including coumarin. The AMEAB and coumarin significantly reduced blood pressure at the tested doses of 500 and 70 mg kg-1, respectively. Serum levels of NO and cGMP were found to be significantly increased in AMEAB- and coumarin-treated groups when compared with only l-NAME-challenged rats. In addition, a marked decrease was noticed in the serum concentrations of proinflammatory cytokines (IL-6 and TNF-α) in AMEAB- and coumarin-treated rats. Moreover, in AMEAB- and coumarin-treated animals, a noticeable improvement was observed in the levels of antioxidant enzymes including catalase, superoxide dismutase, and malonaldehyde, and the total oxidant status when compared with those of only l-NAME-challenged rats. The data of real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) experiments supported that the antihypertensive and anti-inflammatory activities of the AMEAB and coumarin are possibly mediated through modulation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE), nuclear factor (NF)-kB, and COX-2 gene expressions. This study concludes that A. bracteosa possesses an antihypertensive effect mediated through the modulation of the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and NO/cGMP pathways, thus providing a rationale to the antihypertensive use of A. bracteosa in traditional medicine.
Collapse