title: Red ginseng saponin fraction a isolated from korean red ginseng by ultrafiltration on the porcine coronary artery.
abstract: Red ginseng saponin fraction-A (RGSF-A) contains a high percentage of panaxadiol saponins that were isolated from Korean red ginseng by ultrafiltration. The aim of this study was to elucidate the effects of RGSF-A on the porcine distal left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery. The relaxant responses to RGSF-A were examined during contractions induced by 100 nM U46619 (9,11-dideoxy-9a,11a-methanoepoxy-prostaglandin F2a), a stable analogue of thromboxane A2. RGSF-A dose-dependently induced biphasic (fast- and slow-) relaxation in the distal LAD coronary artery in the presence of an intact endothelium. The fast-relaxation was quickly achieved in a minute, and then the slow-relaxation was slowly developed and sustained for more than thirty minutes after the administration of RGSF-A. The slow-relaxation had a tendency to be bigger than the fast-relaxation. Fast relaxation induced by RGSF-A was almost blocked by N ω-Nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME), a nitric oxide synthase inhibitor and 1H-[1,2,4]oxadiazolo[4,3-a]quinoxalin-1-one (ODQ), a guanylate cyclase inhibitor. However slow-relaxation induced by RGSF-A was only partially inhibited by L-NAME and ODQ. In the endothelium-removed ring, RGSF-A evoked only slow-relaxation to a certain extent. These data suggest that RGSF-A induced both endothelium dependent fast- and slow-relaxation and endothelium independent slow-relaxation in the porcine distal LAD coronary artery. The endothelium dependent fast-relaxation is mediated by the nitric oxide (NO)-cGMP pathway, and the endothelium dependent slow-relaxation is at least partially mediated by the NO-cGMP pathway. However, the endothelium-independent slow-relaxation remains to be elucidated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Kyungpook National University College of Veterinary Medicine, Daegu 702-701, Korea.
authors.forename: Young Hyun
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.forename: Kwang Yeol
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Jin Hong
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Jeon
authors.forename: Yi-Seong
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Kwak
authors.forename: Yong-Bum
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Jae-Joon
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Wee
authors.forename: Man Hee
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Rhee
authors.forename: Tae Wan
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Kim
keywords: Endothelium; Ginseng; Nitric oxide; Porcine coronary artery; Red ginseng saponin fraction-A