Preventive effect of the Chinese herbal medicine 'Myakuryu' on hypertension and stroke in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats

1. 'Myakuryu' (MR) is a Chinese herbal medicine that is made up of three herbal components, namely Panax notoginseng, Ginkyo biloba and Crataegus pinnatifida Bge. The preventive effects of MR against hypertension and stroke were examined in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSP). 2. Systolic blood pressure in MR-treated rats was significantly decreased compared with that in the control group. However, there were no significant changes observed between the MR-treated and control groups in terms of bodyweight, heart weight, brain weight and kidney weight after 28 days treatment with MR. Mean cerebral blood flow in the MR-treated group was significantly higher than that in the control group. The incidence of stroke in the MR-treated group was decreased compared with the control group, with a significant increased survival rate by Day 160 of the experiment. The MR-treated group exhibited higher serum superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity than the control group. 3. These results suggest that MR treatment may be beneficial in the prevention of hypertension and the development of stroke and may involve increased SOD activity, which exerts an anti-oxidant effect and improves vascular function in SHRSP.