Açaí Reverses Adverse Cardiovascular Remodeling in Renovascular Hypertension: A Comparative Effect With Enalapril
Juliana Calfa Vilhena, Letícia Lopes de Melo Cunha, Tayenne Moraes Jorge, Marcella de Lucena Machado, Ricardo de Andrade Soares, Izabelle Barcellos Santos, Graziele Freitas de, Caroline Fernandes‐Santos, Dayane Teixeira Ognibene, Roberto Soares de Moura, Ângela Castro Resende, Cristiane Aguiar da Costa
Abstract
ABSTRACT: This study aimed to determine if açai seed extract (ASE) could reverse pre-existing cardiovascular and renal injury in an experimental model of renovascular hypertension (2 kidney, 1 clip, 2K1C). Young male rats (Wistar) were used to obtain 2K1C and sham groups. Animals received the vehicle, ASE (200 mg/kg/d), or enalapril (30 mg/kg/d) in drinking water from the third to sixth week after surgery. We evaluated systolic blood pressure by tail plethysmography, vascular reactivity in the rat isolated mesenteric arterial bed (MAB), serum and urinary parameters, plasma inflammatory cytokines by ELISA, MAB expression of endothelial nitric oxide synthase and its active form peNOS by Western blot, plasma and MAB oxidative damage and antioxidant activity by spectrophotometry, and vascular and cardiac structural changes by histological analysis. ASE and enalapril reduced the systolic blood pressure, restored the endothelial and renal functions, and decreased the inflammatory cytokines and the oxidative stress in 2K1C rats. Furthermore, both treatments reduced vascular and cardiac remodeling. ASE substantially reduced cardiovascular remodeling and recovered endothelial dysfunction in 2K1C rats probably through its antihypertensive, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory actions, supplying a natural resource for the treatment of renovascular hypertension.