Production of Experimental Hypertension and Cardiovascular-Renal Lesions With Licorice and Ammoniated Glycyrrhizin

¹ From the Department of Physiology, Warner-Chilcott Laboratories, Morris Plains, New Jersey

The intragastric administration of either licorice or ammoniated glycyrrhizin for 50 days to male rats, unilaterally nephrectomized and given 0.87% sodium chloride solution to drink, caused a blood pressure elevation consistently higher than that induced by DCA under similar conditions. Renal and cardiovascular lesions, consisting essentially of arteriolar necrosis and hyalinization, were very severe in the DCA- and licorice-treated groups, while they were milder in the glycyrrhizin group. Licorice or DCA treatment caused a significant polydipsia and growth impairment, whereas the curves of fluid intake and body growth of the glycyrrhizin treated group remained approximately like those of the controls. These results support some previous reports on the steroid-like activity of licorice. It seems that the hypertensive properties of licorice could be attributed to its glycyrrhizin content, while polydipsia and some other effects may be due to other constituents.