紅景天苷能對抗缺氧、H₂O₂、高糖、高同型半胱氨酸、煙霧、失重對血管內(nèi)皮細胞的損傷；對抗缺氧、高糖、去甲腎上腺素、血小板源生長因子、血管緊張素Ⅱ誘導(dǎo)血管平滑肌細胞或血管外膜成纖維細胞增殖，從而產(chǎn)生血管保護作用并改善血管功能。紅景天苷對阻力血管具有收縮和舒張的雙重調(diào)節(jié)作用；其血管舒張作用是內(nèi)皮和非內(nèi)皮依賴性的，能對抗KCl、CaCl₂、去甲腎上腺素、苯腎上腺素、高同型半胱氨酸、高血糖、高原缺氧、H₂O₂、氯氣等對血管的攣縮和損傷作用。紅景天苷能解除蛛網(wǎng)膜下腔出血致腦血管痙攣，抑制大鼠因缺氧或野百合堿引起的肺動脈高壓和肺血管重建，抑制多種實驗性動脈粥樣硬化形成并提高動脈粥樣斑塊的穩(wěn)定性。

Salidroside antagonizes hypoxia, H₂O₂, hyper-glucose, homocysteine, smoking, orweightlessness-induced endothelial cell injury, and antagonizes the proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells and vascular adventitial fibroblasts induced by hypoxia, hyper-glucose, noradrenaline, platelet-derived growth factor, or angiotensin Ⅱ, thus produces vascular protection and improves vascular function. Salidroside plays a dual role of vasoconstriction and vasodilation in regulating resistant blood vessel. The vasodilatory effect of salidroside is endothelium-dependent and endothelium-independent. Salidroside antagonizes vascular contraction and injury induced by KCl, CaCl₂, noradrenaline, phenylephrine, homocysteine, hyper-glucose, plateau hypoxia, H₂O₂, and chlorine. Salidroside relieves cerebral vasospasm induced by subarachnoid hemorrhage, and pulmonary hypertension and pulmonary arterial remodeling induced by hypoxia or monocrotaline in rat, attenuates several experimental atherosclerosis, and enhances plaque stability.