a preliminary comparative investigation of hypotensive activities of ethanolic extracts of securidaca longepedunculata, olax subscorpioidea and persea americana on albino rats

Background and aim: securidaca longipedunculata, olax subscorpioidea and persea americana are medicinal plants that serve several purposes in treating many ailments. in this study, the cardiovascular activities of ethanolic extract of the plants were separately assessed using rats of average weight of 181g. materials and methods: twenty rats were utilized for each plant. cardiovascular parameters were recorded through cannulation of the carotid artery on anaesthetized normotensive rats, following the intravenous administration of the ethanolic extract of s. longepedunculata (50-200mg kg^-1), o. subscorpioidea (12.5 -50mg kg^-1) and p. americana (200 and 400mg kg^-1). acetylcholine and nifedipine served as reference drugs while 0.9% saline was the control. after the administration of the extracts, the physiological reactions of the animals were recorded via a polygraph device fastened to a pressure transducer. results: the elicited extract significantly (p˂0.05) decreased pulse rate, mean arterial, and systolic as well as diastolic blood pressure. these extracts produced significant blood pressure variation patterns, suggesting increased hypotensive activities. this may be adduced to the likely presence of some phytochemicals such as flavonoids in the plants that could possibly act as vasodilators or inhibitors of angiotensin converting enzymes. it may act like calcium channel blockers, β-blockers or natriuretic peptides. conclusion: this pharmacological investigation; therefore, gives credence and justification to the ethnomedical, anecdotal and folkloric uses of s. longepedunculata, o. subscorpioidea and p. americana as blood depressants and it was revealed that o. subscorpioidea is more potent followed by s. longepedunculata and p. americana being the least potent one.