Cardiovascular Journal of Africa: Vol 26 No 6 (November/December 2015)

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CARDIOVASCULAR JOURNAL OF AFRICA • Volume 26, No 6, November/December 2015 222 AFRICA
Protective effects of ginseng extracts and common
anti-aggregant drugs on ischaemia–reperfusion injury
Ahmet Caliskan, Oguz Karahan, Suleyman Yazici, Sinan Demirtas, Orkut Guclu, Orhan Tezcan, Celal Yavuz
Abstract
Objective: Ginseng is a traditional herbal medicinal product
widely used for various types of diseases because of its cellu-
lar protective effects. Possible protective effects of ginseng
were investigated in blood, cardiac and renal tissue samples
and compared with common anti-aggregant agents in an
animal ischaemia–reperfusion (I/R) model.
Methods: Twenty rats were equally divided into four different
groups as follows: control group (I/R-induced group without
drug use), group I (acetylsalicylic acid-administered group),
group II (clopidogrel bisulfate-administered group), group
III (ginsenoside Rb1-administered group). For the groups
assigned to a medication, peripheral I/R was induced by
clamping the femoral artery one week after initiation of the
specified medication. After reperfusion was initiated, cardiac
and renal tissues and blood samples were obtained from each
rat with subsequent analysis of nitrogen oxide (NOx), malon-
dialdehyde (MDA), paraoxonase 1 (PON1) and prolidase.
Results: NOx levels were similar in each group. Significant
decrements were observed in serum PON1 levels in each
group when compared with the control (p < 0.05). Serum
MDA levels were significantly lower in groups II and III (p
< 0.05). Ameliorated renal prolidase levels were detected in
study groups (p < 0.05) and recovered cardiac prolidase levels
were obtained in groups II and III (p < 0.05).
Conclusion: These findings indicate that ginseng extracts may
have a potential beneficial effect in I/R injury. However, more
comprehensive studies are required to clarify the hypothetical
cardiac, renal and systemic protective effects in reperfusion-
induced oxidative damage.
Keywords: ginseng, herbal medicine, anti-aggregant drugs,
ischaemia–reperfusion injury
Submitted 27/3/14, accepted 12/4/15
Cardiovasc J Afr 2015; 26: 222–226
DOI: 10.5830/CVJA-2015-047
The meaning of the Chinese word ‘ginseng’ is ‘human seed’.
Ginseng has a root-like appearance, and its extracts contain
sponin. Ginseng has been used in traditional medicine for many
years, especially in East Asian countries. 1 So far, more than
30 ginsenosides have been defined.2,3 Ginsenoid-Rd [dammar-
24(25)-ene-3β, 12β, 20(S)-triol-(20-O-β -D-glucopyranosyl)-
3-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→ 2)-β-D-glucopyranoside] is
one of the basic active substances of ginsenoids. Due to its
antioxidant properties, it has been used in ischaemia–reperfusion
experiments.4
Yokozawa et al. reported that ginseng had protective effects on
rat models in ischaemia–reperfusion experiments.5 The protective
effects of anti-aggregant drugs have also been reported in many
ischaemia–reperfusion experiments performed on rats.6-8
The preparation of medicines and products containing
ginseng varies from region to region and culture to culture. In
traditional Chinese medicine, ginseng plants are harvested in
their natural state, usually without being subjected to any further
processing. In addition, they are only prepared by pulverisation
so that they can be eaten with foods that are consumed daily.
In modern medicine, ginsenoids obtained from ginseng plants
are decomposed in such a manner that they can be used either
in vitamin extracts or in hard gelatin capsules that contain a
specified dose.1-3
This study was undertaken to evaluate the effects of ginseng
extracts on ischaemia–reperfusion injury. Additionally, the
protective effects of these extracts were compared with standard
anti-aggregant drugs.
Methods
Approval for this study was obtained from the local ethics
committee and from the Animal Research Committee of Dicle
University (2013/6). All procedures were performed according to
the Animal Welfare Act and the Guide for the Care and Use of
Laboratory Animals. All animal subjects were maintained at the
laboratory of the Animal Production Unit at Dicle University
in standard humidity- (50 ± 5%) and temperature- (22 ± 2°C)
controlled cages with a 12-hour light/dark cycle until the study
began.
Twenty rats were divided equally into four groups, including
one control group. The rats in the control group underwent
femoral ischaemia–reperfusion (I/R) without medication (the
vehicle control-treated saline). These rats were sacrificed, and
blood samples and cardiac and renal tissues were taken to
determine the baseline I/R values of oxidative markers. All
surgical procedures (without additional intervention) in the
control group were designed similarly to the study groups.
The ethics committee decided that there was no additional
requirement for a sham group for determining the effect of
surgical incision.
Three study groups were created in order to compare the
protective roles of different agents. All rats were anesthetised
with ketamine (Ketalar, Pfizer) at a dose of 130 mg/kg and
Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Medical School of
Dicle University, Diyarbakir, Turkey
Ahmet Caliskan, MD,
Oguz Karahan, MD
Suleyman Yazici
Sinan Demirtas
Orkut Guclu
Orhan Tezcan
Celal Yavuz