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Research Communication

Chronic Consumption of Raw But Not Boiled Welsh Onion Juice Inhibits Rat Platelet Function¹

Jia-Huey Chen^*, Hsiun-ing Chen, Shun-Jen Tsai^** and Chauying J. Jen²

^* Department of Food Health, Chia Nan College of Pharmacy and Science, Tainan; Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, National Cheng-Kung University, Tainan; ^** and Department of Food Science, National Chung-Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan

²To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Welsh onion has been consumed for prevention of cardiovascular disorders. To study if it has antithrombotic effects, 9-wk-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were studied. Some rats were fed raw or boiled Welsh onion juice (2 g · kg^-1 · d^-1) for 4 wk, and the remaining acted as the control. Before and after feeding, their systolic blood pressure was measured by a tail-cuff method. Two days after the treatment period, tail bleeding time, platelet function (including platelet aggregation and adhesion), plasma levels of prostaglandins, and platelet cyclic nucleotide levels were determined. In comparison to the control, raw Welsh onion juice consumption significantly (1) lowered resting systolic blood pressure; (2) prolonged the bleeding time; (3) diminished platelet adhesion on a fibrinogen-coated surface, ADP-evoked platelet aggregation and ADP-stimulated thromboxane release; (4) elevated the concentration of cyclic AMP, but not cyclic GMP, in platelets; (5) increased the plasma level of 6-keto-prostaglandin F₁, the stable prostacyclin metabolite, but not the plasma nitrite level. On the contrary, boiled Welsh onion juice consumption was totally ineffective. In conclusion, consuming raw Welsh onion juice, but not boiled juice, has blood pressure lowering and antithrombotic effects in rats. These effects may be mediated by PGI₂-cAMP pathway.

KEY WORDS: • platelet function • Welsh onion • prostaglandins • bleeding time • rats

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