Protective effects of Dragons Blood on blood coagulation and NO/iNOS level in myocardium and serum of rats in simulated microgravity

To investigate effects of Dragons Blood (DB), a traditional Chinese medicine, on blood coagulation and NO/iNOS level in myocardium and serum of rats in simulated microgravity for the first time, Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into six groups: (a) 5-day control group, (b) 5-day model group, (c) 5-day drug group, (d) 21-day control group, (e) 21-day model group, and (f) 21-day drug group. Blood coagulation and NO/iNOS level in myocardium and serum were examined after 5 and 21 days of simulated microgravity respectively. The results showed that blood of tail-suspended rats was in a hypercoagulable state that could not be converted with time extending. Conversely, DB changed these parameters towards normal level and the curative effects became better when tail-suspension lasted till the 21st day. NO concentration of both myocardium and serum for two periods all increased markedly and DB could effectively reduce these increases except that of 21-day myocardium NO. Activity of iNOS increased markedly as early as 5 days and became more serious on the 21st day, while DB showed preventive effect on the 21st day. Western Blot analysis illustrated that the expression of iNOS in the 5-day model group increased significantly over the 5-day control group and the expression in the 5-day drug group dramatically returned to the normal level. The similar trend was observed on the 21-day groups without notable variances. The findings of this study can serve for the further use of Dragons Blood in space diseases.