Protective Effect of Capsicum Frutescens on Contractile Reactivity of Streptozotocin-Diabetic Rats

Abstract

Introduction & Objective : Considering the higher incidence of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disorders in diabetes mellitus, this study was conducted to evaluate the effect of oral one-month administration of red pepper (Capsicum frutescens) on the contractile reactivity of isolated aorta in diabetic rats. Materials & Methods : For this purpose, male Wistar rats(n=32) were randomly divided into control, pepper-treated control, diabetic, and pepper-treated diabetic groups. For induction of diabetes, streptozotcin (STZ) was intraperitoneally administered (60 mg/Kg). Pepper-treated groups received pepper mixed with standard pelleted food at a weight ratio of 1/15. After one month, contractile reactivity of aortic rings to KCl and noreadrenaline was determined using isolated tissue setup. Results : Serum glucose level showed a significant increase in diabetic group at 2nd and 4th weeks (P<0.001), while this increase was less marked in pepper-treated diabetic group at the 2nd week (P<0.05). In addition, the latter group showed a lower contraction to KCl (P<0.05) and noreadrenaline (P<0.05) as compared to diabetic group. Meanwhile, there was no significant difference between control and pepper-treated control groups regarding contractile reactivity. Conclusion : It can be concluded that oral administration of pepper for one month could attenuate the contractile responsiveness of the vascular system and may prevent the development of hypertension in diabetic rats.

Keywords

• pepper
• red
• cardiovascular system
• diabetes mellitus
• contractile response
• rats