Submit Manuscript

International Journal of Pharmacology

Year: 2006 | Volume: 2 | Issue: 1 | Page No.: 33-41
Facebook Twitter Digg Reddit Linkedin StumbleUpon E-mail

ABSTRACT

This study reported the hypotensive, cardio-suppressant, endothelium-dependent vasodilator and antiplatelet activities of the crude extract of Areca catechu (Ac.Cr), commonly known as betel nut. Ac.Cr tested positive for the presence of terpenoids, flavonoids, amines, tannins, phenols, alkaloids and saponins and exhibited a dose-dependent (0.1 to 1 mg kg-1) atropine-sensitive fall in the arterial blood pressure of normotensive rats under anaesthesia. In isolated guinea-pig atria, Ac.Cr (0.1 to 10 μg mL-1) showed an atropine-sensitive inhibitory effect on the force and rate of spontaneous atrial contractions. In the endothelium-intact rat aorta, Ac.Cr showed inhibition of the phenylephrine-induced contractions. This relaxant effect was blocked by atropine and L-NAME and was found absent in endothelium-denuded preparations. Ac.Cr (1.0-1.75 mg mL-1) also inhibited arachidonic acid (1.7 mM)-induced human platelet aggregation. Among all the known constituents of betel nut tested, only arecoline showed atropine-sensitive cardio-suppressant and vasodilator effects while catechin exhibited atropine-insensitive vasodilator and also antiplatelet activities. This study shows that betel nut exhibits blood pressure lowering and antiplatelet activities mediated at least partly through the presence of known constituents such as arecoline and catechin, respectively.
PDF References Citation

How to cite this article

Anwarul H. Gilani, Muhammad N. Ghayur, Peter J. Houghton, Qaiser Jabeen, Syed F. Kazim, Maliha I. Jumani and Sheikh A. Saeed, 2006. Studies on the Hypotensive, Cardio-suppressant, Vasodilator and Antiplatelet Activities of Betel Nut Crude Extract and its Constituents. International Journal of Pharmacology, 2: 33-41.

DOI: 10.3923/ijp.2006.33.41

URL: https://scialert.net/abstract/?doi=ijp.2006.33.41

REFERENCES

  1. Chu, N.S., 2001. Effects of betel chewing on the central and autonomic nervous systems. J. Biomed. Sci., 8: 229-236.
    Direct Link
  2. Gilani, A.H., M.N. Ghayur, Z.S. Saify, S.P. Ahmed, M.I. Choudhary and A. Khalid, 2004. Presence of cholinomimetic and acetylcholinesterase inhibitory constituents in betel nut. Life Sci., 75: 2377-2389.
    CrossRefPubMedDirect Link
  3. Nadkarni, K.M., 1976. Indian Materia Medica. 3rd Edn., Popular Prakashan, Bombay, pp: 130-133.
  4. Lin, S.K., Y.J. Chang, S.J. Ryu and N.S. Chu, 2002. Cerebral hemodynamic responses to betel chewing: A Doppler study. Clin. Neuropharmcol., 25: 244-250.
    Direct Link
  5. Raghavan, V. and H.K. Baruah, 1958. Areca nut: Indias popular masticatory-history, chemistry and utilization. Econ. Bot., 12: 315-345.
  6. Duke, J.A., 1992. Handbook of Phytochemical Constituent Grass, Herbs and other Economic Plants. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL., USA., ISBN-13: 9780849336720, pp: 302.
  7. NRC, 1996. Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. National Academy Press, Washington, DC., USA., ISBN-10: 0309053773, Pages: 140.
    Direct Link
  8. Wagner, H., S. Bladt and E.M. Zgainski, 1984. Plant Drug Analysis. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp: 299-304.
  9. Stahl, E., 1969. Thin Layer Chromatography: A Laboratory Handbook. 2nd Edn., Springer, New York, USA.
  10. Gilani, A.H., 1991. Antihypertensive activity of himbacine in anesthetized cats. Drug Dev. Res., 24: 127-133.
    CrossRefDirect Link
  11. Furchgott, R.F. and J.V. Zawadzki, 1980. The obligatory role of endothelial cells in the relaxation of arterial smooth muscle by acetylcholine. Nature, 288: 373-376.
    CrossRefDirect Link
  12. Shah, B.H. and S.A. Saeed, 1995. Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase inhibitor, wortmannin, inhibits 5-hydroxytryptaminemediated potentiation of platelet aggregation induced by epinephrine. Res. Comm. Mol. Pathol. Pharmacol., 89: 157-164.
    Direct Link
  13. Arunlakhshana, O. and H.O. Schild, 1959. Some quantitative uses of drug antagonists. Br. J. Pharmacol., 14: 48-58.
  14. Anwar-ul, S., H. Gilani and L. B. Cobbin, 1986. The cardio-selectivity of himbacine: A muscarine receptor antagonist. Naunyn-Schmiedebergs Arch. Pharmacol., 332: 16-20.
    CrossRefPubMedDirect Link
  15. Bowman, W.C. and M.J. Rand, 1980. Peripheral Autonomic Cholinergic Mechanisms. In: Textbook of Pharmacology, Bowman, W.C. and M.J. Rand (Eds.). Blackwell, Oxford, pp: 10-14.
  16. Wolf-Pflugmann, M., G. Lambrecht, J. Wess and E. Mutschler, 1989. Synthesis and muscarinic activity of a series of tertiary and quaternary N-substituted guvacine esters structurally related to arecoline and arecaidine propargyl ester. Arzneim-Fforschung, 39: 539-544.
    Direct Link
  17. Gebauer, M., B. Versen and R. Schipp, 1999. Inhibitory cholinergic effects on the autonomously contractile bulbus cordis branchialis of the cephalopod Sepia officinalis L. Gen. Pharmacol., 33: 59-66.
    Direct Link
  18. Trevor, A.J., B.G. Katzung and S.B. Masters, 2005. Katzung and Trevors Pharmacology. Lange Medical Books/McGraw-Hill, New York, pp: 95-104.
  19. Othman, R., H. Ibrahim, M.A. Mohd, K. Awang, A.H. Gilani and M.R. Mustafa, 2002. Vasorelaxant effects of ethyl cinnamate isolated from Kaempferia galanga on smooth muscles of the rat aorta. Planta Med., 68: 655-657.
    CrossRefPubMedDirect Link
  20. Ajay, M., A.H. Gilani and M.R. Mustafa, 2003. Effects of flavonoids on vascular smooth muscle of the isolated rat thoracic aorta. Life Sci., 74: 603-612.
    CrossRefPubMedDirect Link
  21. Brown, J.H. and P. Taylor, 2001. Muscarinic Receptor Agonists and Antagonists. In: Goodman and Gillman's: The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, Gilman, A.G., J.G. Hardman, L.E. Limbird, P.B. Molinoff and R.W. Ruddon (Eds.). 9th Edn., McGraw-Hill, New York, pp: 155-176.
  22. Bruning, T.A., M.G. Hendriks, P.C. Chang, E.A. Kuypers and P.A. van Zwieten, 1994. In vivo characterization of vasodilating muscarinic-receptor subtypes in humans. Circulat. Res., 74: 912-919.
    Direct Link
  23. Moncada, S. and E.A. Higgs, 1995. Molecular mechanisms and therapeutic strategies related to nitric oxide. FASEB J., 9: 1319-1330.
    Direct Link
  24. Vanhoutte, P.M., G.M. Rubanyi, V.M. Miller and D.S. Houston, 1986. Modulation of vascular smooth muscle contraction by the endothelium. Annu. Rev. Physiol., 48: 307-320.
    CrossRefPubMedDirect Link
  25. Andreopoulos, S. and A. Papapetropoulos, 2000. Molecular aspects of soluble guanylyl cyclase regulation. Gen. Pharmacol., 34: 147-157.
    CrossRefDirect Link
  26. Thorin, E., P.L. Huang, M.C. Fishman and J.A. Bevan, 1998. Nitric oxide inhibits α2-adrenoceptor-mediated endothelium-dependent vasodilation. Circulat. Res., 82: 1323-1329.
    CrossRefPubMedDirect Link
  27. Farnsworth, E.R., 1976. Betel nut-its composition, chemistry and uses. Sci. New Guinea, 4: 85-90.
  28. Wang, C.K., W.H. Lee and C.H. Peng, 1997. Contents of phenolics and alkaloids in Areca catechu during maturation. J. Agric. Food Chem., 45: 1185-1188.
    CrossRefDirect Link
  29. Goto, H., N. Tanaka, K. Tanigawa, Y. Shimada, K. Itoh and K. Terasawa, 1997. Endothelium-dependent vasodilator effect of extract prepared from the seeds of Areca catechu on isolated rat aorta. Phytother. Res., 11: 457-459.
  30. Smythies, J.R., 1977. Betel nut as a GABA blocker. Am. J. Psychiatry, 134: 822-822.
  31. Bradley, B.G.B., 1978. Arecaidine and schizophrenia. Am. J. Psychiatry, 135: 506-507.
    Direct Link
  32. Johnston, G.A.R., P.K. Larsen and A. Stephanson, 1975. Betel nut constituents as inhibitors of γ-aminobutyric acid uptake. Nature, 258: 627-628.
    Direct Link
  33. Enna, S.J. and A. Maggi, 1979. Biochemical pharmacology of gabaergic agonists. Life Sci., 24: 1727-1738.
  34. Hamberg, M., J. Svensson and B. Samuelsson, 1975. Thromboxanes: A new group of biologically active compounds derived from prostaglandin endoperoxides. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA., 72: 2994-2998.
    Direct Link
  35. Caterina, R.D. and C. Patrono, 2000. Atherothrombosis. In: Clinical Pharmacology, Sirtori, C. (Ed.). McGraw Hill, London, pp: 751-770.
  36. Middleton, Jr. E., C. Kandaswami and T.C. Theoharides, 2000. The effects of plant flavonoids on mammalian cells: Implications for inflammation, heart disease and cancer. Pharmacol. Rev., 52: 673-751.
    PubMedDirect Link
  37. Wang, Z., Y. Huang, J. Zou, K. Cao, Y. Xu and M.J. Wu, 2002. Effect of red wine polyphenol resveratrol on platelet aggregation in vitro and in vitro. Int. J. Mol. Med., 9: 77-79.
    Direct Link
  38. Chu, N.S., 1994. Effect of betel chewing on performance reaction time. J. Formosan Med. Assoc., 93: 343-345.
    Direct Link
  39. Evans, W.C., 1996. Trease and Evans' Pharmacognosy. W.B. Saunders Company Ltd., London, UK.

Related Articles

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *