Pharmacological studies on Schizandra fruit. I. General pharmacological effects of gomisin A and schizandrin (author's transl)

Abstract

General pharmacological studies were made on gomisin A and schizandrin which are the constituents of "Hoku-gomisi", the fruit of Schizandra chinensis BAILL. (Schizandraceae) used as an antitussive and a tonic. In the experiments by using mice, gomisin A prolonged intensively hexobarbital-induced sleeping time at doses smaller that 1/40 of LD50, inhibited spontaneous and methamphetamine-induced motor activity, and showed a hypothermic effect and at higher doses an analgesic effect by pressure pain method, while schizandrin showed the same effects except for the sleep-prolongating effect and inhibited writhing symptom by AcOH. At higher doses, both compounds showed a muscle relaxant effect. From these results, it was conceivable that the action of both compounds was a sedating or tranquilising effect. The efficacy of gomisin A was durable and intense, and that of schizandrin was transient. But on the analgesic effect gomisin A was inferior to schizandrin. Moreover, gomisin A showed an antitussive effect in guinea pigs. In the experiments by using rats, gomisin A showed inhibitory effects on gastric contraction (i.v.) and stress-induced gastric ulceration (p.o.), whereas schizandrin showed the same actions, choleretic action, and an inhibitory effect on gastric secretion. In the inhibition of gastric ulceration, the action of schizandrin was superior to gomisin A, and it was suggested that the action of gomisin A depended on the inhibition of gastric contraction to depress stressor factor, and that the action of schizandrin was mainly due to the inhibition of gastric juice secretion and gastric contraction.