Research Paper Effects of hippadine on the blood pressure and heart rate in male spontaneously hypertensive Wistar rats Pierre Mugabo a,n , Alvenia Philander a , Ismaila Raji b , Daneel Dietrich c , Ivan Green d a School of Pharmacy, University of the Western Cape, South Africa b Faculty of Medicine, National University of Science and Technology, Zimbabwe c Department of Medical Biosciences, University of the Western Cape, South Africa d Department of Chemistry, University of the Western Cape, South Africa article info Article history: Received 26 May 2014 Received in revised form 1 October 2014 Accepted 11 October 2014 Available online 18 October 2014 Keywords: Hippadine Spontaneously hypertensive rat Blood pressure Heart rate α 1 adrenoceptor β 1 adrenoceptor Chemical compounds studied in this article Hippadine (PubChem CID: 100605) Adrenaline (PubChem CID: 5816) Atenolol (PubChem CID: 2249) Prazosin hydrochloride (PubChem CID: 68546) Pentobarbitone (PubChem CID: 4737) Heparin (PubChem CID: 25244225) abstract Ethnopharmacological relevance: Hippadine is an alkaloid isolated from Crinum macowanii. Crinum macowanii is used in South Africa to treat oedema, ‘heart disease’, rheumatic fever, cancer and skin diseases, and belongs to the plant family Amaryllidaceae, assumed to have originated in the South African region. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of hippadine, an alkaloid extracted from Crinum macowanii, on the blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) in anaesthetized male spontaneously hypertensive Wistar rats (SHR); and to find out if α 1 and⧸or β 1 adrenoceptors contribute to its effects. Materials and methods: Hippadine (2.5–12.5 mg/kg), adrenaline (0.05–0.20 mg/kg), atenolol (0.5–40 mg/kg) and prazosin hydrochloride (100–500 mg/kg) were infused intravenously, and the BP and HR measured via a pressure transducer connecting the femoral artery and the PowerLab. Adrenaline increased the systolic, diastolic and mean arterial BP, while hippadine, atenolol and prazosin respectively decreased the systolic, diastolic and mean arterial BP. Increases in HR were observed with both adrenaline and prazosin, while reductions in HR were observed with atenolol and hippadine. Infusion of adrenaline in rats pre-treated with atenolol (30 mg/kg), prazosin (400 mg/kg), and hippadine (10 mg/kg) led to similar increases in BP and HR in all groups. All changes in HR or BP were significant (po0.05) and dose dependent. Conclusion: Hippadine decreases the BP and HR in SHR, and these effects may be due to α 1 and β 1 adrenoceptor inhibition. & 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Hippadine is one of the alkaloids that have been isolated from Crinum macowanii (Boger and Wolkenberg, 2000; Nkanwen et al., 2009; Mugabo et al., 2012; Jin, 2013; Nair and van Staden, 2013) so far. Crinum macowanii has found extensive use in traditional medicines for the treatment of various illnesses such as oedema, gynaecological conditions, psychosis, wounds, rheumatic fever, cancer, skin diseases, and ‘heart disease’ (Duncan et al., 1999; Van Wyk et al., 2000; Van Wyk and Gericke, 2000; Elgorashi et al., 2001, 2002, 2003b; Van Wyk, 2011a, 2011b). Crinum macowanii belongs to the large plant family Amaryllidaceae which originates in the Southern African region, and has naturally been used extensively in the local traditional medicines in the region (Chattopadhyay et al., 1983; Boger and Wolkenberg, 2000; Koorbanally et al., 2000; Nair et al., 2000; Hiroya et al., 2004; Ganton and Kerr, 2005; Kissling et al., 2005; Mentzel et al., 2006; Nkanwen et al., 2009; Cheesman et al., 2012; Jin, 2013; Nair and van Staden, 2013, 2014). The medicinal properties of the family Amarylli- daceae are largely associated with the vast number of alkaloids that are produced by the plants in the family (Elgorashi et al., 2003a; Nkanwen et al., 2009; Cheesman et al., 2012; Refaat et al., 2012a, 2012b, 2012c, 2013a, 2013b; Nairand van Staden, 2013, 2014). Recent scientific research has established the potency and selective inhibitory activity of galanthamine, an alkaloid obtained from the family Amaryllidaceae, against the enzyme acetylcholi- nesterase, an activity beneficial in the management of Alzheimer's disease. Pancratistatin is another alkaloid obtained from this family that has shown potent and cell line specific antiproliferative properties (Jensen et al., 2011; Nair and van Staden, 2013). Some other plants in this family, such as Boophone disticha and Cyclamen purpurascens have displayed novel, broad spectrum antibacterial activity (Cheesman et al., 2012) and may contain antibacterial agents which could be used in the treatment of typhoid fevers and urogenital infections respectively (Nkanwen et al., 2009). Some Contents lists available at ScienceDirect journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jep Journal of Ethnopharmacology http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2014.10.011 0378-8741/& 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. n Corresponding author. Tel.: þ27 822023589; fax: þ27 21 959 1276. E-mail address: pmugabo@uwc.ac.za (P. Mugabo). Journal of Ethnopharmacology 158 (2014) 123–131