Antihypertensive effect of the clerodane diterpene ajugarin I on experimentally hypertensive rats

Anti-hypertensive studies on ajugarin I, a representative example of a range of biologically active clerodane diterpenes was carried out. Administration of ajugarin I at 10 mg/1 in the drinking water of experimentally hypertensive rats, lowered their blood pressure from 165.00 +/- 1.57 mmHg to a normotensive level of about 116.33 +/- 1.67 mmHg in two weeks. These observations could open up new research avenues in the development of a new drug for the treatment of hypertension in humans.