Affiliations: Institute of Physiology, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany | rent-a-lab Dr. Carsten Tober, Reutlingen, Germany | Vitaplant AG, Witterswil, Switzerland | Institute of Physiology, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany | The Keenan Research Centre at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael’s, Toronto, ON, Canada
Note: [] Corresponding author: Prof. Wolfgang M. Kuebler, Institute of Physiology, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Arnimallee 22, 14195 Berlin, Germany. Tel.: +49 308 445 1648; Fax: +49 308 445 1634; E-mail: wolfgang.kuebler@charite.de
Abstract: Vertigo of various and often unknown aetiologies has been associated with and attributed to impaired microvascular perfusion in the inner ear or the vertebrobasilar system. Vertigoheel is a low-dose combination preparation of proven value in the symptomatic treatment of vertigo. In the present study we tested the hypothesis that Vertigoheel’s anti-vertiginous properties may in part be due to a vasodilatory effect exerted via stimulation of the adenylate and/or guanylate cyclase pathways. Thus, the influence of Vertigoheel or its single constituents on synthesis and degradation of cyclic nucleotides was measured. Furthermore, vessel myography was used to observe the effect of Vertigoheel on the vasoreactivity of rat carotid arteries. Vertigoheel and one of its constituents, Anamirta cocculus, stimulated adenylate cyclase activity, while another constituent, Conium maculatum, inhibited phosphodiesterase 5, suggesting that the individual constituents of Vertigoheel contribute differentially to a synergistic stimulation of cyclic nucleotide signalling pathways. In rat carotid artery rings, Vertigoheel counteracted phenylephrine-induced tonic vasoconstriction. The present data demonstrate a vasorelaxant effect of Vertigoheel that goes along with a synergistic stimulation of cyclic nucleotide pathways and may provide a mechanistic basis for the documented anti-vertiginous effects of this combination preparation.
