New Therapeutic Insight into the Effect of Ma Huang Tang on Blood Pressure and Renal Dysfunction in the L-NAME-Induced Hypertension

Mi Hyeon Hong; Hye Yoom Kim; Youn Jae Jang; Se Won Na; Byung Hyuk Han; Jung Joo Yoon; Chang Seob Seo; Ho Sub Lee; Yun Jung Lee; Dae Gill Kang

doi:10.1155/2021/9980429

New Therapeutic Insight into the Effect of Ma Huang Tang on Blood Pressure and Renal Dysfunction in the L-NAME-Induced Hypertension

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2021 Jul 13:2021:9980429. doi: 10.1155/2021/9980429. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Mi Hyeon Hong^{1

2}, Hye Yoom Kim^{1

2}, Youn Jae Jang^{1

2}, Se Won Na^{1

2}, Byung Hyuk Han^{1

2}, Jung Joo Yoon^{1

2}, Chang Seob Seo³, Ho Sub Lee^{1

2}, Yun Jung Lee^{1

2}, Dae Gill Kang^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Hanbang Cardio-Renal Syndrome Research Center, Wonkwang University, 460 Iksan-daero, Iksan, Jeonbuk 54538, Republic of Korea.
² College of Korean Medicine and Professional Graduate School of Korean Medicine, Wonkwang University, 460 Iksan-daero, Iksan, Jeonbuk 54538, Republic of Korea.
³ Herbal Medicine Research Division, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, 1672 Yuseong-daero, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34054, Republic of Korea.

Abstract

In this study, we evaluated the effect of a traditional herbal formula, Ma Huang Tang (MHT), on blood pressure and vasodilation in a rat model of N^G-nitro-L-arginine methylester- (L-NAME-) induced hypertension. We found that MHT-induced vascular relaxation in a dose-dependent manner in rat aortas pretreated with phenylephrine. However, pretreatment of endothelium-intact aortic rings with L-NAME, an inhibitor of nitric oxide synthesis (NOS), or 1H-[1, 2, 4]-oxadiazole-[4, 3-α]-quinoxalin-1-one (ODQ), an inhibitor of soluble guanylyl cyclase, significantly abolished vascular relaxation induced by MHT. MHT also increased the production of guanosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cGMP) in the aortic rings pretreated with L-NAME or ODQ. To examine the in vivo effects of MHT, Sprague Dawley rats were treated with 40 mg/kg/day L-NAME for 3 weeks, followed by administration of 50 or 100 mg/kg/day MHT for 2 weeks. MHT was found to significantly normalize systolic blood pressure and decreased intima-media thickness in aortic sections of rats treated with L-NAME compared to that of rats treated with L-NAME alone. MHT also restored the L-NAME-induced decrease in vasorelaxation response to acetylcholine and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) and endothelin-1 (ET-1) expression. Furthermore, MHT promoted the recovery of renal function, as indicated by osmolality, blood urea nitrogen (BUN) levels, and creatinine clearance. These results suggest that MHT-induced relaxation in the thoracic aorta is associated with activation of the nitric oxide/cGMP pathway. Furthermore, it provides new therapeutic insights into the regulation of blood pressure and renal function in hypertensive patients.