The effects of marrubium vulgare on contractile reactivity of aorta in diabetic rats

The incidence of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases increases in diabetes mellitus patients. Therefore, the effects of a two-month oral administration of Marrubium vulgare (MV) on contractile reactivity of isolated aorta in an experimental model of diabetic rats were evaluated in the present study. Male Wistar rats (n = 44) were randomly divided into control, MV-treated control, diabetic, and MV-treated diabetic groups. For induction of diabetes, streptozotocin (STZ) was intraperitoneally administered (60 mg/kg). MV-treated groups received MV mixed with standard pelleted food at a weight ratio of 1/15. After 2 months, contractile reactivity of aortic rings to potassium chloride (KCl) and noradrenaline was determined using isolated tissue setup. Serum glucose levels showed significant increases in the diabetic group at 4th and 8th weeks (P < 0.001), while this increase was not observed in MV-treated diabetic group at the 8th week. In addition, the latter group showed a lower contraction to KCl (P < 0.05) and noradrenaline (P < 0.05) as compared to the diabetic group. Meanwhile, there was no significant difference between the control and MV-treated control groups regarding contractile reactivity. It can be concluded that oral administration of MV for 2 months could attenuate the contractile responsiveness of the vascular system which may prevent the development of hypertension in diabetic rats.