Vascular relaxation induced by Eucommiae Ulmoides Oliv. and its compounds Oroxylin A and wogonin: implications on their cytoprotection action.

The vascular relaxation action of Eucommiae Ulmoides Oliv. also known as Duzhong has been seen on arteries of the heart such as the aorta and the coronary artery which are elastic in nature. Duzhong is historically an active ingredient commonly used in hypertensive herbal prescriptions in China. This work investigated the vasodilating effect of Duzhong and its compounds (wogonin 10 μM and oroxylin-A) in the isolated intact rat heart, perfused retrograde according the method of Langendorff and the cytoprotective effect in EA.hy926 cell lines Coronary perfusion pressure was monitored with a pressure transducer connected to a side-arm of the aortic perfusion cannula. Duzhong induced vasorelaxation in a dose dependent manner, on precontracting the vessels with endothelin-1, Duzhong 10 mg/ml, wogonin 10 μM and oroxylin-A 10 μM could significantly lower the perfusion pressure in reference to positive control SNP, Duzhong induced vasodilation was not inhibited by L-NAME (nitric oxide inhibitor), but was significantly inhibited by Tetraethyl ammonium (TEA, a K(+) channel blocker and almost abolished by potassium chloride. The underlying mechanism was carried out in EA.hy926 cell lines. When these cells were treated with H2O2, there was higher expression of NOX-4, TNF-α and COX-2 mRNA. However, wogonin treatment attenuated the mRNA of NOX-4, TNF-α and COX-2. Wogonin also upregulated the mRNA expression of CAT, SOD-1 and GSR in oxidative stress induced by H2O2 EA.hy926 cells. Duzhong and compounds can exert an in vitro relaxation effect of the coronary artery and improve the heart function in Langendorff apparatus. This action appears to be endothelium dependent but not NO mediated. Cell culture findings indicated that wogonin can exert vascular and cellular protection by scavenging Reactive Oxygen Species.