Antithrombotic Potential of Red Allium cepa and Angelica gigas Nakai

Introduction: Red Allium cepa and Angelica gigas Nakai is widely used in oriental medicine and also has various physiological activities. The main components of two substances will have potential benefits to blood flow improvement. Objectives: This study evaluated the cell viability and antioxidant effects of Red Allium cepa extract, Angelica gigas Nakai extract and their mixture and observed anticoagulation activity and antiplatelet aggregation activity. Methods: Red Allium cepa was bioconverted through the use of the Bacillus subtilis KJ-3 (BS3) strain after ethanol extraction (Red-BCQ). Angelica gigas Nakai extract (Agnex) contains a large amount of coumarins such as decursin and decursinol angelate (D/DA). Here, we observed antioxidant and antithrombotic effects after treatment with Red-BCQ, Agnex and mixture of these two compounds. Results: The quercetin content of Red-BCQ increased by about 7.4-fold after bioconversion. A 1 mg portion of Agnex contained 0.4146 mg of D and 0.3659 mg of DA. Red-BCQ and Agnex exerted strong antioxidant activities due to their high polyphenol and flavonoid content. In our study, Red-BCQ and Agnex exhibit beneficial effects to external coagulation pathways by significantly expanding aPTT. However, a combination of Red-BCQ and Agnex did not exert any synergistic effect on anti-coagulation activity. Additionally, our results concerning platelet aggregation inhibitory effects revealed that these effects increased by treatment with Agnex alone or in combination with Red-BCQ. Conclusion: Further research is required to clarify the underlying mechanism. However, Red-BCQ and Agnex are considered to possess antioxidant effects either alone or as a mixture and also exert antithrombotic effects.