Protective effects of extracts of forsythia suspensa and chrysanthemum on alcoholic hypertension rats based on tissue pathological slice image analysis

To explore the effects of Forsythia suspensa and Chrysanthemum indicum extracts on blood pressure as well as hepatic and renal functions of hypertensive rats and to optimize the most beneficial combination of the two herbs to achieve this goal. After hypertension was observed, rats were administrated with extracts of F. suspensa and C. indicum by gastric perfusions at doses of 20 mL/kg, for fourteen days. On the fourteenth day, rats were fasted for 12 h and then blood was collected from the eyeballs for serum measurement of alanine transaminase, aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, albumin, total cholesterol, triglycerides, very low density lipoprotein, sodium, potassium and creatinine. Hepatic and renal tissue were harvested and processed into paraffin blocks for observation. F. suspensa and C. indicum at a ratio of 2:1 was the most effective with respect to liver repair in the hypertensive rats (p < 0.05). Both plant extracts decreased serum lipids and creatinine with the ratio of 2:1 of the two extracts being the most beneficial (p < 0.05). A synergistic effect on decreasing blood pressure and protection of the liver was observed in the hypertensive rats when extracts of F. suspensa and C. indicum were administered in combination. F. suspensa and C. indicum at a ratio of 2:1 was the most effective.