New insights on relaxant effects of (-)-borneol monoterpene in rat aortic rings

The monoterpene alcohol (-)-borneol has many biological effects such as sedative, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, anti-nociceptive, antithrombotic and vasorelaxant effects. Our objective in this study was to investigate the mechanism of action of (-)-borneol and determine its vasorelaxant effect. (-)-Borneol was tested on isolated aortic rings contracted with PE (10^-6  m). This study was performed in the absence or in the presence of endothelium, L-NAME (100 μm), indomethacin (10 μm), TEA (1 and 10 mm), 4-AP (1 mm) or glibenclamide (1 mm) to assess the participation of EDRF, nitric oxide, prostanoids and potassium channels on the relaxing effect of (-)-borneol. In this work, (-)-borneol induced a relaxant effect in aortic rings, with and without endothelium, in a concentration-dependent manner. The pharmacological characterization obtained using L-NAME, indomethacin, TEA, 4-AP and glibenclamide demonstrates that the effect of (-)-borneol was modified in the presence of L-NAME, indomethacin and glibenclamide showing that these signal transduction pathways are involved in the relaxing effect of the monoterpene. (-)-Borneol has a vasorelaxant effect that depends on the presence of vascular endothelium, with the participation of nitric oxide and prostanoids. Also, (-)-borneol displayed a direct action on the vascular smooth muscle, greatly dependent on K_ATP channels.