title: Antihypertensive effect of quercetin in rats fed with a high-fat high-sucrose diet.
abstract: The effects of different levels of quercetin on the blood pressure were studied in 6-week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats. The rats were fed with a control diet or a high-fat high-sucrose (HFS) diet containing 0, 0.02, 0.07, 0.2, or 0.5% quercetin for 4 weeks. The systolic blood pressure and the lipid peroxides in the plasma were both higher in the rats fed with the HFS diet without quercetin than in the rats fed with the control diet. The nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity in the vascular tissues and nitric oxide (NO) metabolites in the plasma and urine were both lower in these rats. A distinct depression of the increase in blood pressure was found in the rats fed with the HFS diets containing quercetin. Each level of quercetin examined was effective, the 0.5% level being much more effective than other levels. Dietary quercetin decreased lipid peroxidation in the plasma of the rats fed with the HFS diets. Quercetin also suppressed the decrease in NO metabolites in the plasma and urine, and the NOS activity in the vascular tissues of these rats. These results suggest that the increased NO availability caused by the elevated NOS activity, and the antioxidative activity in these rats fed with quercetin may be sources of the antihypertensive effect of quercetin.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Human Life Science, Osaka City University, Sumiyoshi-ku, Osaka, Japan. Yamamoto@life.osaka-cu.ac.jp
authors.forename: Yukiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.forename: Eriko
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Oue
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed; D000818:Animals; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001011:Aorta / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006973:Hypertension / Q000188:drug therapy; D050356:Lipid Metabolism / Q000187:drug effects; D015227:Lipid Peroxidation / Q000187:drug effects; D008054:Lipid Peroxides / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000097:blood / Q000652:urine; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase / Q000378:metabolism; D011794:Quercetin / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013395:Sucrose / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017392:Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000959:Antihypertensive Agents; D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates; D004041:Dietary Fats; D008054:Lipid Peroxides; D017392:Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances; D009569:Nitric Oxide; D013395:Sucrose; D011794:Quercetin; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase