The influence of a herbal mixture containing knotweed, motherwort, hawthorn, periwinkle, and horsetail on metabolic processes in rabbits

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the infusion produced from lesser periwinkle (Vinca minor), blossoms and fruits of monopistillate hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna), motherwort (Leonorus cardiaca), knotweed (Polygonum aviculare) and field horsetail (Equisetum arvense) on the carbohydrate–lipid–protein and electrolyte metabolism in blood serum, aortic myocardial tissues, and liver after induction of pituitrin hypertension in rabbits. Induced pituitrin hypertension in rabbits was accompanied by a rise in the levels of atherogenic lipids in blood serum, an increase in the activity of glycolytic enzymes and cholesterol levels in the liver, as well as by a decrease in the activity of alaninaminotransferase in the myocardium, and a rise in the content of transketolase and calcium concentration in the aortic wall. The treatment of pituitrin hypertension in rabbits with a herbal preparation containing knotweed normalized arterial blood pressure and decreased calcium concentration in the aortic wall. In the treatment of hypertension, an infusion made from a herbal preparation containing knotweed decreased hyperlipoproteinemia and hypercholesterinemia, as well as diminished the activity of glycolysis, cholesterolį levels in the liver, and the activity of carbohydrates – enzymes of energetic metabolism in the myocardium. Keywords: hypertension, knotweed, metabolic processes