Background: In clinical practice, Epimedii Herba and Ginkgo Folium preparations are widely used in treatment of diseases such as coronary heart disease (angina) in China. However, there are no studies on the two-drug combination.
Objective: To explore the effect of the mixture of the Epimedii Herba extract (EE) and Ginkgo Folium extract (GE) on coronary flow of isolated hearts in rats.
Materials and methods: EE and GE were prepared by reflux in alcohol, and processed with HPD-100 macro-reticular resins; icariin from EE and total bilobalides from GE were determined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Fifty male Sprague-Dawley (SD) mice were subdivided into five groups (10 rats each): Normal control group (NC), EE - 10 mg group, GE - 10 mg group, EE - 5 mg + GE - 5 mg group, and EE - 10 mg + GE - 10 mg group. Isolated hearts uniform pressure perfusion was proceeded with Langendorff system.
Results: The content of icariin in EE was 20.8%. The total content including four kinds of bilobalides (ginkolide A-C and bilobalide) in GE was 8.6%. The coronary flow in the NC group remained stable before and after treatment, and the coronoray flow in the EE, GE, EE + GE groups was increased and the relative magnitude of heightening was 25.0-33.3%, and the coronary flow in EE + GE was significantly different from that in the single EE or GE group.
Conclusion: EE or GE itself can heighten coronary flow of isolated hearts in rats. The activity of the mixture including EE and GE is better than that of single EE or GE, and the activity becomes larger when the dosage is doubled, and is related with dosage.
Keywords: Bilobalide; Coronary flow; icariin; macro-reticular resins; traditional Chinese medicine.