Effect of morin, a flavonoid against DOCA-salt hypertensive rats: a dose dependent study

To determine the protective effect of morin, a flavonoid against deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA)-salt induced hypertension in male Wistar rats.

Hypertension was induced in uninephrectomized rats by weekly twice subcutaneous injection of DOCA (25 mg/kg bw) and 1% NaCl in the drinking water for six consecutive weeks. Effect of morin against DOCA-salt induced hypertension was evaluated by measuring blood pressure and performing biochemical estimations and histopathological examination of renal tissues.

DOCA-salt hypertensive rats showed considerably increased systolic and diastolic blood pressure, serum hepatic marker enzyme activities such as aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) and renal function markers (urea, uric acid and creatinine) in plasma. Oral administration of morin (25, 50 and 75 mg/kg bw) brought back all the above parameters to near normal level. Histopathology of kidney also confirmed the biochemical findings of this study. The effect at a dose of 50 mg/kg bw of morin was more pronounced than that of the other two doses (25 and 75 mg/kg bw).

These findings indicate that morin exhibits strong antihypertensive effect against DOCA-salt induced hypertension.