Abstract: AIM: To investigate the inhibitory effect of ginsenoside Rg1 on left ventricular hypertrophy induced by abdominal aorta coarctation in rats. METHODS: SD rats were randomly divided into five groups, four groups of them were accepted an operation of abdominal aorta coarctation to elicit left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), the other one was sham operation group.Rg1 (3.75, 15 mg/kg) or L-arginine (L-arg, 200 mg/kg) were administered to rats in three of those four groups respectively except model group.Three weeks after operation, Rg1 or L-arg was administered for 4 weeks.At the end of administration, the hemodynamics of the rats was detected by BL-420E system, and the LVH index (left ventricular weight body weight) and left ventricular weight/right ventricular weight (LVW/RVW) were used as hypertrophic parameters; the expressions of atrial natriuretic factors (ANF) and calcineurin (CaN) mRNA were determined by iCycler iQ Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (Real-Time PCR). RESULTS: Compared with those in sham operation group, the blood pressure, the left ventricular systolic pressure, left ventricular end-diastolic pressure, LVH index and LVW/RVW were significantly increased, but the ±dp/dtmax was significantly decreased, and the ANF and CaN mRNA expressions were remarkably up-regulated in model group.Rg1 (3.75, 15 mg/kg) and L-arg (200 mg/kg) had no influence on the blood pressure and the left ventricular systolic pressure, but could significantly decrease the left ventricular end-diastolic pressure and increase the ±dp/dt max, LVH index and LVW RVW, reduce the ANF and CaN mRNA expressions. CONCLUSION: Rg1 has an inhibitory effect on the left ventricular hypertrophy induced by overload pressure in rats, which may be, in partly, mediated by its inhibitory effect on CaN signaling pathway.

Key words: ginsenoside Rg1, left ventricular hypertrophy, abdominal aorta coarctation, calcineurin, rat