The Effect of the HydroAlcoholic Extract of Berberis Integerrima on the Basic Tension of Isolated Tracheal Smooth Muscle and the Interaction of its Effect on the Adrenergic Eystem

Plants are used as pharmaceutical sources in the health system of various countries in the world. Berberis integerrima contains vitamin C and polyphenol. Based on previous studies, vitamin C plays a role in the bronchoconstriction of muscles. Thus, this study attempted to evaluate the effect of this extract on level of tracheal muscle tension. Since the sympathetic nervous system plays a role in the relaxation of tracheal muscles and the substances in this plant are likely to play such a role, the present study investigated the interaction of the effect of extract with the adrenergic system. A number of 14 male rats were kept in an animal room under normal conditions. Each of them was anesthetized by intraperitoneal injection of 1/2 g/kg of urethane, divided into 3 mm rings, and then placed in a tissue floating bath (containing Krebs solution). The tissues were connected to a power transducer which was also connected to a bridge amplifier with the function of amplifying the signal. Then, the data were recorded by a system called Power lab. Ultimately, they were compared using Independent-sample T test. The effective dose of the extract was obtained as 80 mg/kg. This dose was added to the tissues and then epinephrine and propranolol were added respectively. A significant reduction was observed in tracheal rings tension in the presence of the extract in comparison to the control group. Such an effect was fixed even after adding epinephrine as the agonist of the adrenergic system and propranolol as the agonist of β2 receptor. The hydro alcoholic extract of Berberis integerrima affects the tension of tracheal smooth muscle and loosens it. This effect interacts with the adrenergic pathway while such an interaction is not probably through β2 receptors.