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Bacopa and Heart
No
clinical trials have been conducted to test the cardiovascular
benefits of Bacopa that have been touted by Ayurvedic medicine for
cetnturies. However, in vitro research,
agaiun conducted by Dar and Channa, and involving the aorta and
pulmonary arteries of rabbits revealed that bacopa extract exerted a
vasodilatory effect on calcium chloride-induced contraction in both
tissues (Dar A, Channa S. Calcium antagonistic activity of Bacopa
monniera on vascular and intestinal smooth muscles of rabbit and
guinea-pig. J Ethnopharmacol 1999;66:167-174).
Research
Abstracts:
Antioxidant
activity of DHC-1, an herbal formulation, in experimentally-induced
cardiac and renal damage.
Phytother
Res. 2005 Mar;19(3):216-21.
*
Bafna PA, * Balaraman R.
Pharmacy
Department, Faculty of Technology and Engineering, The M.S.
University of Baroda, Baroda -390
001,
Gujarat, India.
DHC-1,
an herbal formulation derived from the popular plants Bacopa
monniera, Emblica officinalis, Glycyrrhiza glabra, Mangifera indica
and Syzygium aromaticum was studied for its antioxidant activity. The
protective effect of DHC-1 in isoproterenol-induced myocardial
infarction and cisplatin-induced renal damage were studied. A
significant reduction in the serum markers of heart and kidney damage
and the extent of lipid peroxidation with a concomitant increase in
the enzymatic (SOD and CAT) and non-enzymatic antioxidants (reduced
glutathione) were observed in DHC-1 pretreated animals compared with
the isoproterenol or cisplatin alone treated animals. Thus it can be
concluded that DHC-1 possesses a protective effect against both
damaged heart and kidneys in rats. This beneficial effect may be
attributed, at least in part, to its antioxidant activity. Copyright
2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
PMID:
15934019 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Broncho-vasodilatory
activity of fractions and pure constituents isolated from Bacopa
monniera.
J
Ethnopharmacol. 2003 May;86(1):27-35.
*
Channa S, * Dar A, * Yaqoob M, * Anjum S, * Sultani Z, *
Atta-ur-Rahman.
Pharmacology
Section, HEJ Research Institute of Chemistry, University of Karachi,
75270, Pakistan. shabnachanna@hotmail.com
The
present study demonstrates that various fractions and sub-fractions
isolated from Bacopa monniera produced significant inhibition of
carbachol-induced bronchoconstriction, hypotension and bradycardia in
anaesthetized rats. All these showed more potency towards inhibition
of tracheal pressure compared to either blood pressure or heart rate.
The sub-sub fraction and compound 1 caused greater inhibition of
tracheal pressure and heart rate compared to blood pressure. Thus,
overall bioassay-directed fractionation of B. monniera improved the
bronchodilatory activity in various fractions and compound 1 (2-219x)
in anaesthetized rats. In vitro, the KCl-induced contraction was
equally inhibited by crude extract, petroleum ether and methanol
fractions on trachea suggesting bronchodilatory activity remained the
same in fractions. On pulmonary artery petroleum ether,
dichloromethane and methanol fractions produced 2-2.6 times more
vasodilatation compared to crude extract of B. monniera. Subsequent
sub-fractions failed to show the existence of broncho-vasodilatory
activity, however, the CHCl(3)/MeOH sub-fraction significantly
reduced the acetylcholine-induced contraction on ileum. Both the
methanol fraction and CHCl(3)/MeOH sub-fraction caused marked
reduction of barium chloride-, potassium chloride- and calcium
chloride-induced contraction on guinea-pig ileum, indicating their
interference with Ca(2+) ion movement. Thus, it may be concluded that
various fractions derived from B. monniera possess
broncho-vasodilatory activity, which is attributed mainly to
inhibition of calcium ions.
PMID:
12686438 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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