Potential vasorelaxant effects of oleanolic acid and erythrodiol, two triterpenoids contained in 'orujo' olive oil, on rat aorta

Orujo' olive oil is obtained by chemical processes from the waste resulting from the mechanical extraction of virgin olive oil. The aim of the present study was to evaluate a new pharmacological property of two natural triterpenoids contained in olive oil, as vasodilatory agents, and to determi...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Rodríguez Rodríguez, Rosalía, Herrera González, María Dolores, Sánchez Perona, Javier, Ruiz Gutiérrez, Valentina
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2004
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Sevilla (US)
Repositorio:idUS. Depósito de Investigación de la Universidad de Sevilla
OAI Identifier:oai:idus.us.es:11441/96710
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/11441/96710
https://doi.org/10.1079/BJN20041231
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:'Orujo' olive oil
Endothelium
Erythrodiol
Oleanolic acid
Rat aorta
Vasorelaxation
Descripción
Sumario:Orujo' olive oil is obtained by chemical processes from the waste resulting from the mechanical extraction of virgin olive oil. The aim of the present study was to evaluate a new pharmacological property of two natural triterpenoids contained in olive oil, as vasodilatory agents, and to determine their mechanism of action. The two compounds studied were oleanolic acid and erythrodiol. The vasorelaxant effect induced by these pentacyclic triterpenoids was studied in isolated thoracic rat aorta. Oleanolic acid and erythrodiol, accumulatively added, showed vasorelaxant activities in aortic rings with endothelium pre-contracted by 10-6 M-phenylephrine (maximum percentage of relaxation 86.38 (SEM 2.89) and 73.53 (SEM 6.01), respectively). They had almost no relaxant effect on depolarised or endothelium-denuded aortic segments. The relaxation was significantly attenuated by pre-treatment with the NO synthase inhibitor Nω -nitro-L-argi-nine-methylester (L-NAME; 3 × 10-4 M). To characterise the involvement of endothelial factors, in addifion to NO, arteries with endothelium were exposed to 10-5 M-indomethacin (INDO), a cyclo-oxygenase inhibitor, or INDO plus L-NAME. INDO did not have any significant effect on the relaxant response of both compounds. The combination of L-NAME plus INDO only abolished the oleanolic acid-induced relaxation. The present results suggest that the mechanism of relaxation seems to be mainly mediated by the endothelial production of NO; however, other mechanisms cannot be excluded. It can be concluded that oleanolic acid and erythrodiol may have interesting therapeutic potential as new vasodilator drugs, thus protecting the cardiovascular system. Therefore, the intake of 'orujo' olive oil, as a source of these compounds, might be beneficial in this regard.