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. 2017 Oct;390(10):1029-1039.
doi: 10.1007/s00210-017-1404-1. Epub 2017 Jul 17.

The triterpenoid alpha, beta-amyrin prevents the impaired aortic vascular reactivity in high-fat diet-induced obese mice

Flávia Almeida Santos  1 , Karine Maria Martins Bezerra Carvalho  2 , Francisco José Batista-Lima  2 , Paulo Iury Gomes Nunes  2 , Ana Flávia Seraine Custódio Viana  2 , Armenio André de Carvalho Almeida da Silva  3 , Said Gonçalves da Cruz Fonseca  4 , Mariana Helena Chaves  3 , Vietla Satyanarayana Rao  2 , Pedro Jorge Caldas Magalhães  2 , Teresinha Silva de Brito  2
Affiliations

The triterpenoid alpha, beta-amyrin prevents the impaired aortic vascular reactivity in high-fat diet-induced obese mice

Flávia Almeida Santos et al. Naunyn Schmiedebergs Arch Pharmacol. 2017 Oct.

Abstract

To characterize the protective effects of the triterpenoid mixture alpha, beta-amyrin (AMY, 20 mg/kg, during 15 days) on the reactivity of isolated aorta of high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obese mice. Male Swiss mice were fed with HFD or normal diet (ND) for 15 weeks. Contractions of thoracic aorta in response to KCl or phenylephrine (PHE) and relaxation by acetylcholine (ACh) or sodium nitroprusside (SNP) were analyzed. HFD-fed mice developed hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia, and significant body weight gain, parameters prevented by AMY treatment. Whereas aortic contractility did not differ in response to KCl, contractions induced by PHE (1 μM) as well as relaxation induced by ACh (1-30 μM) or SNP (1 nM-0.1 mM) on PHE-contracted aorta were decreased (p < 0.05) in tissues of HFD compared to ND mice, phenomenon significantly (p < 0.05) diminished in HFD mice treated with AMY. The relaxant actions of ACh and SNP were inhibited (p < 0.05) by tetraethylammonium (TEA, 5 mM), apamin (0.1 μM), and 4-aminopyridine (4-AP; 3 mM) in aortae from ND group, but not from HFD. Treatment of HFD mice with AMY rescued the inhibitory effect of TEA (p < 0.05) on vasorelaxant actions of ACh and SNP. 1H-[1,2,4]oxadiazolo[4,3-a]quinoxalin-1-one (ODQ) inhibited similarly the relaxant effects of SNP in all groups. 8-Br-cGMP relaxed with similar profile aortae of all groups. By preventing HFD-induced obesity in mice, AMY rescued the blunted contractile response to PHE, and the attenuated vasorelaxation and K+ channel activation (opening) induced by ACh and SNP in isolated aorta.

Keywords: Alpha, beta-amyrin; Aortic vascular reactivity; High fat diet; Obesity; Thoracic aortic rings.

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