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Planta Med 1996; 62(5): 431-435
DOI: 10.1055/s-2006-957933
Paper

© Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart · New York

Tetramethylpyrazine, a Calcium Antagonist

Peter Kai To Pang1 , 3 , Jacqueline Jie Shan1 , Kam Wai Chiu2
  • 1Department of Physiology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2H7
  • 2Herbtech Inc., Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
  • 3Faculty of Engineering, Fukuyama University, Higashimura-cho, Fukuyama-shi, Hiroshima 729-02, Japan
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Publication History

1996

1996

Publication Date:
04 January 2007 (online)

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Abstract

Tetramethylpyrazine (TMP) is a compound purified from a medicinal plant Ligusticum wallichii Franch. Its effects on in vivo blood pressure, in vitro vascular contractility, and in-tracellular calcium regulation in rats were examined in the present study to see if it was a possible calcium antagonist in the vascular tissue. Data showed that TMP was hypotensive and had a direct vascular effect. It not only blocked the entry of extracellular calcium through calcium channels but also inhibited the release of intracellular stored calcium in the vascular smooth muscle cell. It was a true calcium antagonist.

Key words

Tetramethylpyrazine - Ligusticum wallichii - Apiaceae - calcium antagonist - vasorelaxant - hypotensive