Effect of Short-Term Oral Administration of Phikud Navakot in Rats

Phikud Navakot (PN), composed of nine herbs and used as a main component of Yahom Navakot, is used in traditional Thai medicine against dizziness and fainting.

To investigate the effects of PN on blood pressure, heart rate (HR), and antioxidant properties on male Sprague Dawley rats.

All rats were weighted everyday in the morning, after that, PN (10, 50, 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg BW) were given oroesophageal feeding for seven days. Systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), mean arterial pressure (MAP), and HR were measured once per two days. At the end of the experiment, the blood was taken for determination of biochemical and hematological parameters, and lipid peroxidation in serum. The heart was immediately removed for Western blot analysis.

SBP DBP and MAP of rats were transiently increased after 1 day of PN (100 mg/kg BW) treatment. Meanwhile, HR did not change throughout the experiment. PN (400 mg/kg BW) significantly increased (p< 0.05) the percentage of neutrophils in blood after 7 days of administration. PN treatment has no effect on biochemical parameters and peroxidation of lipid. In addition, ingestion of PN (100 mg/kg BW) significant increased (p < 0.05) HO-1 expression, but did not change ERK1/2 and Bax/Bcl-2 ratio when compared with the control group.

The results may possibly support the use of PN for prevention and/or alleviation of cardiovascular disorders, caused by reactive oxygen species. However, long-term treatment of PN has to be further studies.