Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Arecoline induces dual modulation of blood pressure in rat, including an initial downregulation and a subsequent upregulation

Jiashan Wu, Lijuan Chen, Meiping Deng, Xiaowen Ye, Xiaoxia Jiang, Jiangliu Fu, Peiling Zhou, Changzheng Zhang

Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Development and Education for Special Needs Children & School of Educational Sciences, Lingnan Normal University, Zhanjiang 524048, China;

For correspondence:- Changzheng Zhang Email: neurobiologyzhang@yahoo.com Tel:+8615261879383

Accepted: 26 July 2020 Published: 31 August 2020

Citation: Wu J, Chen L, Deng M, Ye X, Jiang X, Fu J, et al. Arecoline induces dual modulation of blood pressure in rat, including an initial downregulation and a subsequent upregulation. Trop J Pharm Res 2020; 19(8):1637-1641 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v19i8.11

© 2020 The authors.
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Abstract

Purpose: To determine the role of arecoline in cardiovascular modulation in rats.

Methods: After rats were anaesthetized with intraperitoneal urethane (1.4 g/kg body weight), saline or arecoline (at doses of 1.0, 3.0 and 10.0 mg/kg) was intraperitoneally administered, and blood pressure (BP) was continuously recorded using a physiological apparatus. Mean arterial pressure (MAP), maximum changes in MAP and reaction time due to arecoline stimulations were calculated and analyzed.

Results: Arecoline induced biphasic modulation in BP, including an initial downregulation followed by a subsequent upregulation. The MAP and maximum change in MAP exhibited a concentration-dependent effect in the downregulation phase (p < 0.001 within each group), but not in the upregulation phase (p > 0.05 within each group), while BP reaction time showed a dose-dependent prolongation in both downregulation and upregulation phases (ps < 0.01 within each group). Remarkably, arecoline-induced BP downregulation more rapidly and drastically than upregulation in each arecoline group.

Conclusion: These results indicate that arecoline exerts a complex effect in cardiovascular modulation that should be considered as side effects in the clinical use of arecoline and/or with the habitual chewing of areca nuts.

Keywords: Arecoline, Blood pressure, Downregulation, Upregulation