Fallon M B, Abrams G A, Abdel-Razek T T, Dai J, Chen S J, Chen Y F, Luo B, Oparil S, Ku D D
Liver Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama 35294-0007, USA.
Am J Physiol. 1998 Aug;275(2):L283-7. doi: 10.1152/ajplung.1998.275.2.L283.
Hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction underlies the development of high-altitude pulmonary edema. Anecdotal observations suggest a beneficial effect of garlic in preventing high-altitude symptoms. To determine whether garlic influences pulmonary vasoconstriction, we assessed the effect of garlic on pulmonary pressures in rats subjected to alveolar hypoxia and on vasoconstriction in isolated pulmonary arterial rings. Garlic gavage (100 mg/kg body wt) for 5 days resulted in complete inhibition of acute hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction compared with the control group. No difference in mean arterial pressure or heart rate response to hypoxia was seen between the groups. Garlic solution resulted in a significant dose-dependent vasorelaxation in both endothelium-intact and mechanically endothelium-disrupted pulmonary arterial rings. The administration of NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (a nitric oxide synthase inhibitor) inhibited the vasodilatory effect of garlic by 80%. These studies document that garlic blocks hypoxic pulmonary hypertension in vivo and demonstrate a combination of endothelium-dependent and -independent mechanisms for the effect in pulmonary arterial rings.
低氧性肺血管收缩是高原肺水肿发生发展的基础。轶事观察表明大蒜在预防高原症状方面具有有益作用。为了确定大蒜是否影响肺血管收缩，我们评估了大蒜对肺泡低氧大鼠肺血管压力以及对离体肺动脉环血管收缩的影响。与对照组相比，连续5天给予大蒜灌胃（100mg/kg体重）可完全抑制急性低氧性肺血管收缩。两组之间对低氧的平均动脉压或心率反应无差异。大蒜溶液在完整内皮和机械性破坏内皮的肺动脉环中均导致显著的剂量依赖性血管舒张。给予NG-硝基-L-精氨酸甲酯（一种一氧化氮合酶抑制剂）可使大蒜的血管舒张作用抑制80%。这些研究证明大蒜在体内可阻断低氧性肺动脉高压，并表明其在肺动脉环中的作用存在内皮依赖性和非依赖性机制的联合作用。
