Potent antihypertensive effect of hancornia speciosa leaves extract.

• Autor(a) principal: Grazielle Caroline da Silva
• Data de Publicação: 2016
• Outros Autores: Fernão Castro Braga, Virgínia Soares Lemos, Steyner de França Côrtes
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da UFMG
• Texto Completo: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.phymed.2015.12.010; http://hdl.handle.net/1843/51200
• topic: Hancornia speciosa Gomes; Hypertension; Antihypertensive drugs; Medicinal plants; Apocynaceae; Hipertensão; Anti-hipertensivos; Plantas medicinais

Background: Hancornia speciosa Gomes is an herb traditionally used in Brazil for blood pressure control. Purpose: The present work investigated the antihypertensive effect of an extract from Hancornia speciosa leaves (SFH) and analyzed its underlying mechanisms of action. Methods: Hypertension was induced in mice by surgical removal of a kidney and by subcutaneous admin- istration of a pellet with deoxycorticosterone. Vasodilatation was measured in mesenteric arteries with a wire myograph. Nitrites were measured by fluorescence with 2,3-diaminonaphthalene and H2O2 was measured with carbon microsensors. Results: SFH (0.03, 0.1 or 1 mg/kg; po) induced a dose-dependent, long-lasting reduction in the sys- tolic blood pressure in conscious DOCA-salt hypertensive mice (DOCA). Administration of SFH produced a significant increase in the plasmatic level of nitrites. The systemic inhibition of nitric oxide synthase by L-NAME (20 mg/kg) reduced its antihypertensive effect. SFH also induced a concentration-dependent vasodilatation of mesenteric resistance arteries contracted with phenylephrine, which was more potent in arteries from DOCA mice. Removal of the endothelium or pretreatment with L-NAME or catalase re- duced the vasodilator response for SFH. The nitrite production induced by SFH was significantly bigger in mesenteric arteries from DOCA than in SHAM mice. However, the production of H2O2 induced by SFH was twice higher in DOCA mice. Conclusion: Altogether, our results point to an antihypertensive effect of SFH due to a reduction in periph- eral resistance through the production of NO and by a mechanism involving an increased production of H2O2 in the mesenteric arteries from hypertensive mice. These findings are further evidence to support the use of Hancornia speciosa by traditional medicine as an antihypertensive drug.