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Monitoring Plant Hormones During Stress Responses
Published on: June 15, 2009
Effects of phytoncides on blood pressure under restraint stress in SHRSP
Kohei Kawakami1, Mai Kawamoto, Masato Nomura
1Department of Experimental Animals, Centre for Integrated Research in Science, Shimane University, Izumo, Japan. kkawaka@med.shimane-u.ac.jp
Abstract:
1. Phytoncides are volatile substances released mainly from trees. We studied whether phytoncides can reduce stress responses in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSP). 2. Under the restraint stress, SHRSP exposed to phytoncides showed lower blood pressure than those without the exposure (186.8 +/- 3.9 vs 207.7 +/- 3.4 mmHg, respectively, P < 0.01 by Student's t-test). 3. Consistent with the observation above, the plasma concentration of catecholamines under the restraint stress was lower in the phytoncides group than in the control group. 4. Based on these results, we concluded that phytoncides reduced the cardiovascular response to restraint stress in SHRSP.
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The average BP in an adult is typically around 120/80 mmHg (millimeters of mercury). In this measurement, the numerator (120) indicates the systolic pressure, which is the pressure in the arteries during the contraction of the heart's ventricles as blood is expelled. The denominator (80) represents the diastolic...

