BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Achillea eriophora has been used in traditional medicine for treatment of gastrointestinal disorders and cardiovascular disease. This study was performed to determine its cardiovascular effects and its interaction with adrenergic system.
METHODS: In this study, 15 male wistar rats (weighed 220-250 g) were divided randomly into 3 groups. The first group received distilled water (Epinephrine solvent), epinephrine (0.04 mg/kg) and epinephrine plus extract solvent (ethanol 70%), respectively. The second group received distilled water, epinephrine and epinephrine plus extract (60 mg/kg), respectively. The third group received extract and after the onset of the extract effects, epinephrine were injected. In different groups, blood pressure and heart rate were recorded via arterial cannula linked to pressure transducer and A-D instrument powerlab.
FINDINGS: Extract significantly reduced mean arterial blood pressure (67±8, 65±3, 67±8), compared to the base stage (86±5, 84±6, 86±5) (p<0.05). In addition, a significant reduction was observed in the diastolic pressure in the presence of the epinephrine plus extract (76±7) in comparison with the stage that epinephrine injected (85±6) (p<0.05).
CONCLUSION: Result of the study showed that A. eriophora extract reduces diastolic pressure in the presence of the epinephrine. It can be concluded that A. eriophora has a hypotensive effect that this effect seems at least in part, related to vascular factors.