The effect of panax ginseng on intimal hyperplasia in rats with abdominal aortic intimal injury

This study aims to investigate the effects of Panax ginseng (P. ginseng) on intimal hyperplasia following intimal injury induced in the abdominal aortas of rats.

Twenty-four Wistar Albino rats were divided into four equal groups. Group A was designated as the control group and underwent laparotomy alone. In Group B, following laparotomy, the abdominal aorta was partially transected, and intimal injury was induced proximally using a 2F Fogarty catheter. Groups C and D received 20 mg/kg and 40 mg/kg of P. ginseng, respectively, and both groups underwent the same procedure as Group B. Two samples were collected from all rats with aortic injury: one from the primarily repaired aortic segment and another from the aortic segment with intimal injury caused by a Fogarty catheter. One sample was collected from the control group. The intima and media thicknesses of the collected aortic samples were histopathologically evaluated.

No significant intimal hyperplasia was observed in the primarily repaired aortic segments, and P. ginseng did not have significant effect in these segments (p=0.394 and p=0.580, p=0.180, p>0.05). However, significant intimal hyperplasia developed in the aortic segments with injury induced by the Fogarty catheter (p=0.012, p<0.05). High-dose P. ginseng (40 mg/kg) significantly reduced intimal hyperplasia in these segments (p=0.036, p<0.05), while the low dose (20 mg/kg) did not show statistically significant effect (p=1.000, p>0.05).

Our study results showed that P. ginseng reduced intimal hyperplasia in a dose-dependent manner in rat abdominal aortas.