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DOI: 10.1055/s-2006-957575
© Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart · New York
Mechanism of the Aortic Relaxation Induced by Low Concentrations of Berberine
Publication History
1998
1998
Publication Date:
04 January 2007 (online)
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Abstract
The mechanism of the aortic relaxation induced by a low concentration of berberine was investigated in rat isolated aorta. It was found that the aortic relaxation induced by berberine below 1 × 10-6M was solely endothelium dependent. Denuded aorta and methylene blue pretreated aorta did not demonstrate aortic relaxation with such berberine concentrations. Higher concentrations (above 1 × 10-6M berberine), however, induced aortic relaxation irrespective of the presence of intact endothelium or methylene blue pretreatment. Since methylene blue is known as a direct inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase beside being a nonspecific guanylyl cyclase inhibitor, the present data suggest that the mechanism of the aortic relaxation induced by a low berberine concentration is solely dependent on the presence of endothelium.