Abstract
Purpose: To provide an experimental basis for the anti-diarrheal and anti-oxidant properties of the bark extract of Magnolia officinalis Rehd. et Wils., a Chinese traditional herb called magnolol.Methods: The effects of magnolol on castor oil-induced diarrhea, small intestinal transit (SIT) in mice were investigated. Additionally, the antioxidant activity of magnolol was assessed in mice by the following parameters: glutathione (GSH), total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), antioxidant enzyme activities and their gene expression level.Results: Compared with diarrhea model control group, magnolol (25, 50, or 100 mg/kg body weight) showed significant (p < 0.05) inhibitory activity against castor oil-induced diarrhea in mice. Administration of magnolol (25, 50, and 100 mg/kg) also lowered neostigmine-induced SIT acceleration to 60.34 ± 5.17, 59.61 ± 7.66, and 54.12 ± 7.27 %, respectively, as against 70.1 ± 6.89 % for neostigmine control group. In vivo antioxidant assay results showed that mice treated with magnololexhibited significantly (p < 0.001) higher activities of catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activities in blood, compared to control. Similarly, magnolol proupsshowed significantly higher CAT and SOD and T-AOC activities (p < 0.01) than control in liver tissues. The 100 mg/kg magnolol group had significantly higher liver GSH content than normal control group(1.01 vs. 0.79 mg/mg protein). At 25 and 50 mg/kg doses, magnolol significantly enhanced gene expression levels of CAT (p < 0.01) in liver.Conclusion: Findings from this study indicate that magnolol possesses anti-diarrheal activity and is probably one of the main anti-diarrhea ingredients of Cortex Magnoliae Officinalis. Magnolol modulation of the activity and gene expression of antioxidant enzymes may therefore exert beneficial effects in antioxidant defense.Keywords: Magnolol, Diarrhea, Small intestinal transit, Antioxidant enzyme, Gene expression
Highlights
The plant, Magnolia officinalis Rehd. et Wils. known as Magnolia/Houpu, of the family Magnoliacea, is one of the most popular traditional Chinese medicines
Some researchers have investigated the antioxidant activity of magnolol extracted from Cortex Magnoliae Officinalis [8], few of those studies were done in vivo
average loose stools grade (ALSG) did not differ between model control, positive control and magnonol treatment groups
Summary
The plant, Magnolia officinalis Rehd. et Wils. known as Magnolia/Houpu, of the family Magnoliacea, is one of the most popular traditional Chinese medicines. Some researchers have investigated the antioxidant activity of magnolol extracted from Cortex Magnoliae Officinalis [8], few of those studies were done in vivo. The objective of this experiment was to investigate the anti-diarrhea property of magnolol using the castor oil-induced diarrhea mice model and small intestinal transit (SIT) and to determine the antioxidant activity of magnolol through examination of antioxidant enzyme responses at both enzymatic and transcript levels.
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