title: The decline of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) gene expression in older rats and the effects of ginsenoside on ANP gene expression.
abstract: 1. The levels of atrial natriuretic peptide(ANP) gene expression in rat atria at 2-3 and 14-18 months of age and the effects of ginsenosides on r-ANP gene expression by determining the concentration of ANP-mRNA were investigated. The male and female rats were abdominally (i.p.) injected with aqueous solution of ginsenosides prepared from ginseng stems and leaves (G-PSL) and ginseng roots (G-PR), 50 mg/kg body wt, once a day for 7 days. Atria total RNA was extracted by the cold phenol method. The ANP-mRNA contents were determined using the Northern blot and dot blot hybridization technique with alpha-32*P-labelled r-prepro-ANP-cDNA probe. 2. The ANP-mRNA contents of 14-18 month rats were remarkably less than that of 2-3 month rats. The levels of male and female rats' atria at 14-18 months were about 15 and 60%, the content of male and female rats at 2-3 months respectively. 3. G-PSL and G-PR increased the ANP-mRNA content of male rats at 14-18 months 1- and 2-fold, respectively, whereas G-PSL and G-PR decreased the ANP-mRNA content in male rats of age 2-3 months. 4. These results revealed that the ANP gene expression declined during ontogenic ageing development and ginsenosides possessed anti-ageing effects in the heart endocrineous function aspect.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Norman Bethune University of Medical Sciences, Jilin Province, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Y Q
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: Mai
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Boersma
authors.forename: K K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Vantyghem
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lefebvre
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000235:genetics*; D000818:Animals; D009320:Atrial Natriuretic Factor / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D015342:DNA Probes; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects*; D036145:Ginsenosides; D008297:Male; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012503:Saponins / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D015342:DNA Probes; D036145:Ginsenosides; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D012503:Saponins; D009320:Atrial Natriuretic Factor