Vascular effects of aqueous crude extracts of Artemisia verlotorum Lamotte(Compositae): in vivo and in vitro pharmacological studies in rats

Artemisia verlotorum Lamotte (Compositae), growing in almost all the northe rn hemisphere, is used in folk medicine of some countries of Tuscany, Italy , as a remedy for hypertension. The pharmacological evaluation of the respo nses evoked by an aqueous dried extract of Artemisia verlotorum on the bloo d pressure of anaesthetized rats and on in vitro rat isolated aortae showed a marked, but transient, hypotensive activity, This effect was mediated by a strong vasodilator action, closely linked to the release of endothelial nitric oxide and to the nitric oxide-guanosine 3'-5'-cyclic monophosphate ( cGMP) pathway, caused by a muscarinic receptor agonism, Copyright (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.