Hypotensive and vasorelaxant effects of ethanolic extract from Jatropha gossypiifolia L. in rats

The present work was carried out to examine the hypotensive effects of ethanolic extract (EE) from Jatropha gossypiifolia L. The oral administration of EE (125 or 250 mg kg −1 day −1) caused a significant and dose-dependent reduction of the systolic blood pressure. The concentration–response curves to norepinephrine (NE) or Ca 2+ were non-parallely shifted to the right and the maximum contractile responses were concentration dependently depressed by EE (0.1 or 0.5 mg/ml) in endothelium-deprived mesenteric artery. The cumulative additions of EE (0.1–30 mg/ml) caused a concentration-dependent relaxant response in endothelium-deprived mesenteric artery precontracted with NE or Ca 2+. In conclusion, our results have shown that the EE from J. gossypiifolia L. can elicit hypotension, by oral via, in conscious normotensive rats and vasorelaxant activity on rat mesenteric rings precontracted with NE or Ca 2+.