Anti-hypertensive effect of crocin and hesperidin combination in high-fat diet treated rats

Mahmoud Hashemzaei; Ramin Rezaee; Mojtaba Nabatzehi; Konstantinos Tsarouhas; Taxiarchis Konstantinos Nikolouzakis; George Lazopoulos; Demetrios A Spandidos; Aristidis Tsatsakis; Jafar Shahraki

doi:10.3892/etm.2020.8650

Anti-hypertensive effect of crocin and hesperidin combination in high-fat diet treated rats

Exp Ther Med. 2020 Jun;19(6):3840-3844. doi: 10.3892/etm.2020.8650. Epub 2020 Apr 8.

Authors

Mahmoud Hashemzaei¹, Ramin Rezaee^{2

3}, Mojtaba Nabatzehi¹, Konstantinos Tsarouhas⁴, Taxiarchis Konstantinos Nikolouzakis⁵, George Lazopoulos⁶, Demetrios A Spandidos⁷, Aristidis Tsatsakis⁵, Jafar Shahraki¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Zabol University of Medical Sciences, 9861615881 Zabol, Iran.
² Clinical Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, 9177948564 Mashhad, Iran.
³ Neurogenic Inflammation Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, 9177948564 Mashhad, Iran.
⁴ Department of Cardiology, University Hospital of Larissa, 41110 Larissa, Greece.
⁵ Center of Toxicology Science and Research, Medical School, University of Crete, 71003 Heraklion, Greece.
⁶ Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University General Hospital of Heraklion, Medical School, University of Crete, 71003 Heraklion, Greece.
⁷ Laboratory of Clinical Virology, School of Medicine, University of Crete, 71003 Heraklion, Greece.

Abstract

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide. Hypertension is the most important cause of such conditions. The use of medicinal herbs is of particular importance due to their lower cost and side effects. The aim of the present study was to compare the effect of hesperidin (HES) and crocin (CRO) alone and in combination, on blood pressure in a rat model of high-fat diet (HFD)-induced hypertension, using invasive carotid artery measurements. Animals were randomly assigned to the following groups: control group (received standard chow diet), HFD control group (received HFD containing 32% kcal of fat and 0.1% cholesterol), and three groups of HFD-treated animals that were treated with a single dose of CRO (20 mg/kg), HES (20 mg/kg), or CRO + HES (20 + 20 mg/kg). Except for the control group, rats received HFD for 7 weeks. On day 50, CRO, HES and normal saline were administered intraperitoneally and carotid arteries of the rats were cannulated. Three hours after the carotid artery cannulation, mean arterial blood pressure (MAP), systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP and DBP), and heart rate (HR) were measured using an intra-arterial catheter with the use of a Power Lab system. Data was analyzed using SPSS software. Rats that received HFD for 49 days presented a significant increase in SBP, HR and MAP compared to the control group (P<0.001). Whereas, HFD-treated rats of the CRO + HES group showed lower levels of SBP, HR and MAP; however, DBP remained unaffected. HES administration in HFD treated rats resulted in a significant decrease in SBP compared to the HFD control group with no significant differences in MAP. The hypotensive effects of the simultaneous administration of CRO and HES in HFD-hypertensive rats suggest the need for further study of these two natural products as a potential preventive measure against hypertension development, especially in patients with high normal blood pressure.

Keywords: blood pressure; crocin; hesperidin; high-fat diet; hypertension; rats.