Spasmodic Effect of Ephedra Major on Adrenergic Receptors in the Rat Jejunum

Tendency to utilize Ephedra containing products is increasing due to their favorable properties such as energytic, fat burning, decongestant etc. Due to the presence of gastero-intestinal system agonism α and β adrenergic compound and lack of systematic research on this issue, we conducted this study to determine the Ephedra major Host (E. Major). Effects of the hydroethanolic extract on  the gastro-intestinal system to reveal the underlying mechanism for the constricting effect were studied. Isolated jejunum from 24 male Wistar rat (BW 220±30 g) were tested in the organ bath. Rats were anesthetized and the jejunum was isolated and placed in De Jalon solution with bubbled 95% O2 and 5% CO2. Then, it was cut into segment of 2-3 cm and mounted in 25 ml chambers of organ bath; construction response was recorded in 4 groups. Statistical compression were made by student t-test and ANOVA, using SPSS Ver.19. P≤0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Half Maximal Effective concentration was calculated by Lab Chart Ver.7 software. E. Major extract had a contractile effect on rat jejunum. The cumulative concentration of E. Major (0.00625 - 3 mg/ml) contracted the KCl-induced contractions dose-dependently (P≤0.05). The inhibitory effect of extract was unaffected by propranolol as a β-adrenoceptor antagonist but  phenoxybenzamine, an α-adrenoceptor antagonist inhibited the contractile effect. These findings revealed the inhibitory effect of E. Major extract involves α adrenergic receptors. The results support the possible beneficiary effects of this plant in traditional medicine.