General pharmacology of Danhong injection

Objective To investigate the effect of Danhong injection on the cardiovascular, the respiratory, and the nervous systems in animals. Methods Using the pressure transducer, tension transducer and subcutaneous electrodes connected to a multifunctional signal processor, the femoral artery pressure, respiratory curve and electrocardiogram were recorded, respectively, in dogs before and after administration of Danhong injection. The effect of the injection on spontaneous activities was observed in mice using a multifunctional mouse activity recorder. The effects were also observed on coordinated movements by recording tilt-board falling times of the mice and on hypnosis induced by subthreshold dose of pentobarbital sodium by observing the disappearance of righting reflex. Results Danhong injection caused slight decrease in systolic blood pressure without obviously affecting the heart rate, diastolic blood pressure and respiratory system of anesthetized dogs 30 min after intravenous Danhong injection at the dose of 2.4 g/kg, but at the doses of 1.2 and 0.6 g/kg·b.w, the injection did not produce any significant impact. The coordinated movement and spontaneous activity and pentobarbital sodium-induced hypnosis in mice were not obviously affected by the 3 doses of Danhong injection. Conclusion Danhong injection does not affect the respiratory functions of the dogs and nervous system of mouse with the exception of the systolic pressure at the 3 doses.