Regular articleLong-term intake of rosemary and common thyme herbs inhibits experimental thrombosis without prolongation of bleeding time
Section snippets
Rosemary and common thyme
Herbs were grown, harvested, dried and powdered in the Research and Development Division, S and B Foods Incorporation (Tokyo, Japan).
Diets
Experimental diet containing powdered rosemary or common thyme in 0.5 or 5% (w/w) concentrations were prepared from purified materials on the basis of the Western-style high fat diet model. The latter and the ingredients were described earlier [7]. Diets were stored at – 30 °C until use (Table 1).
Animals and feeding
Five week old male C57BL/6J mice were purchased from SLC Co. Ltd.
He-Ne laser-induced carotid artery thrombosis test
This technique has been described in detail [7], [8]. Briefly, a polyethylene tube was inserted into the left femoral artery of mouse anaesthetized with Nembutal (65 mg/kg, i.m.) and the carotid artery (450-500 μ m in diameter) was exposed by incision. The animal was placed on a special microscope stage, Evans blue dye was injected intra-arterially (30 mg/kg) and the center of the exposed carotid artery was irradiated with He-Ne laser. Thrombus formation at the site of irradiation was monitored
Dietary intake and body weight
Changes in dietary intake and body weight over 12 weeks are shown in Fig. 1. No significant differences were detected between the various groups in dietary intake or body weight gain (overall P = 0.072 and 0.275, respectively).
Thrombotic status
Results are shown in Fig. 2 (A,B). Diet containing 5% or 0.5% rosemary significantly suppressed the thrombotic status (post hoc test P = 0.016 and 0.014, respectively). Diet containing 5% common thyme significantly impaired the thrombotic response while the 0.5% concentration
Discussion
Strong evidence has been provided on the contribution of inappropriate diet to the development and progress of atherothrombotic diseases. Several experimental studies have been performed to investigate the mechanism of such effect. Our interest was in finding fruits and vegetables with antithrombotic activity, which could potentially be beneficial in the prevention of atherothrombotic diseases. We were aware of the critical importance of the employed technique(s) and therefore only platelet
Conclusion
Long-term dietary intake of rosemary and common thyme in C57BL/6 mice impaired platelet function in vitro and thrombus formation in vivo, while bleeding times were not affected. The mechanism of the antithrombotic effect may involve suppression of platelet reactivity and stimulation of the vascular endothelium.
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