Salvia Miltiorrhiza Bge.f.alba Ameliorates the Progression of Monocrotaline-Induced Pulmonary Hypertension by Protecting Endothelial Injury in Rats

Abstract

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a life-threatening disease that is characterized by elevated pulmonary blood pressure, abnormally thickened pulmonary arteries, and right ventricular hypertrophy. Monocrotaline (MCT) has been used to generate an experimental model of PH in rats, with PH initiated from injuries of lung vascular endothelium. Salvia Miltiorrhiza Bge.f.alba is a widely used traditional herb in China, known to exert protective effects on vascular endothelial cell injury in animal experiments. However, the role of Salvia Miltiorrhiza Bge.f.alba in PH remains unclear. Thus, we investigated the effects of the aqueous extract of Salvia Miltiorrhiza Bge.f.alba (AESM) on MCT-induced PH and explored the pertinent mechanism. PH was induced in rats by a single subcutaneous injection of MCT (60 mg/kg body weight). Low or high dose (4.6 g/kg or 14 g/kg body weight) of AESM was then administered orally for 21 days to PH rats. Hemodynamic study showed that AESM reduced mean pulmonary artery pressure and improved right ventricle function. Lung pathological analysis revealed that AESM reduced wall thickness and lumen stenosis of pulmonary vessels. Also AESM ameliorated right ventricular hypertrophy. Measurement of biochemical parameters indicated that AESM decreased endothelin-1 and thromboxane A 2 in plasma and increased nitrogen monoxide and prostacyclin in the plasma and reduced the increase of transforming growth factor β 1 in lung tissue. Our results suggest that AESM may ameliorate the progression of MCT-induced PH in rats, at least in part by its protective effect on endothelial injury. Therefore, Salvia Miltiorrhiza Bge.f.alba could be useful in the treatment of PH.

Salvia miltiorrhiza Injection Alleviates LPS‐Induced Acute Lung Injury by Adjusting the Balance of MMPs/TIMPs Ratio

“…Salvia miltiorrhiza injection (SMI), a Chinese Materia Medica standardized product extracted from the root of red-rooted Salviae Miltiorrhizae ( Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge, Labiatae, Danshen in Chinese), is an injectable solution through modern formulation and preparation process. The main ingredient is tanshinone, which plays an active role in the treatment of many diseases such as promoting blood circulation, removing blood stasis, reducing inflammatory reaction, and improving coagulation, as well as other effects [ 46 , 47 ].…”

Traditional Herbal Medicine Discovery for the Treatment and Prevention of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

“…Previous studies showed that Salvia miltiorrhiza Bge. ( Wang Y. et al, 2015 ), Crataegus oxyacantha ( Ahmadipour et al, 2017 ), Mimosa pigra ( Rakotomalala et al, 2013 ), Panax notoginseng ( Zhao et al, 2015 ), and Allium macrostemon Bunge ( Han et al, 2017 ) increased NO production.…”

“…In addition, the regulation of Ca 2+ is one of the effects of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bge. on PAH ( Wang Y. et al, 2015 ) . Moreover, Panax notoginseng reduces the expression of p38MAPK that has been demonstrated to be an underlying mechanism in the generation of PAH ( Zhao et al, 2015 ).…”