[The effects of crude drugs using diuretic on horse kidney (Na+ + K+)-adenosine triphosphatase].

The research article is a study on the effects of various traditional diuretic drugs on an enzyme in horse kidneys responsible for regulating the levels of sodium and potassium. The study found that most diuretic drugs reduced the activity of this enzyme, with a few specific ones having the most significant impact.

Objective of the Research

• The goal of the study was to examine the effects of different traditional drugs, which were used as diuretics, on the horse kidney enzyme referred to as (Na+ + K+)-adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase). This enzyme features on the plasma membrane and is essentially responsible for transporting sodium and potassium across this membrane.

Methodology and Data Collection

• A total of 23 diverse diuretic drugs were selected for analysis. The effects of these drugs on the kidney (Na+ + K+)-ATPase activity were investigated.
• The drugs were tested by drawing their ethanol extracts and recording their impact on the ATPase activity. The intensity of the inhibition was measured by figuring the amounts of their ethanol extracts which inhibited the (Na+ + K+)-ATPase activity by 50% (I50, micrograms/ml).

Findings of the Research

• The study discovered that 21 out of the 23 diuretic drugs hindered the kidney (Na+ + K+)- ATPase activity.
• Notably, specific drugs such as Atractylodis Lanceae Rhizoma, Atractylodis Rhizoma, Plantaginis Semen, Plantaginis Herba, and Alismatis Rhizoma, demonstrated strong inhibitory effects on the kidney (Na+ + K+)-ATPase activity.
• The ethanol extracts of the rhizomes of Atractylodes lancea De Candolle and Atractylodis japonica Kitamura were tested with varying concentrations of ATP and ouabain, a type of cardiac glycoside. The mode of inhibition of these two extracts appeared to be uncompetitive based on a graphical method known as Lineweaver-Burk plot.
• The extract of Atractylodes japonica Kitamura remarkably decreased the I50 for ouabain, while the extract of Atractylodes lancea De Candolle made no significant difference to the I50 for ouabain.