Therapeutic Effects of Water Soluble Danshen Extracts on Atherosclerosis
Figure 3
Effect of Danshen extract on neointimal formation after carotid artery balloon injury in rats. (a)-(b) Rats were orally administered one of two different concentrations of Danshen extract (DE) (10 and 50 mg/kg/d, both ; represented as DE 10 and DE 50, resp.,) or vehicle () every day from 2 weeks before and to four weeks after balloon injury. (a) Representative histologic sections of neointimal formation. Left, vehicle treatment; Middle, DE (10 mg/kg/d) treatment; Right, DE (50 mg/kg/d) treatment. (b) Neointimal formation after balloon injury according to the doses of treated DE. (c) Neointimal formation after balloon injury according to the existence of DE pretreatment. To evaluate the effect of DE pretreatment on neointimal hyperplasia, rats were subjected to DE treatment (10 mg/kg/d) for one of two periods of time: four weeks after injury, (Post-DE 10); two weeks before injury until 4 weeks after injury, (Pre-DE10 + Post-DE10). The neointimal formation was calculated by [intima/(media + intima)] × 100 (%). The bar indicates the standard error. * for the indicated comparisons. DE: Danshen extract.
