Constituent Crude Drugs Research Articles

Pharmacological studies of Gardeniae fructus. II. Contribution of the constituent crude drugs to choleretic activity of "Inchinko-to" in rats (author's transl)

Pharmacological examination was made on bile secretion in rats of "Inchinkoto" ( ?? 〓 ?? ?? ), the most representative preparation for jaundice in Chinese medicine, and on each of its three constituent crude drugs (Gardeniae Fructus, Artemisiae Capillaris and Rhei Rhizoma). The extract of Gardeniae Fructus hardly increased bile secretion, while genipin, an agiycone of geniposide which is present in this crude drug, markedly increased it. Essential oils from Artemisiae Capillaris (Spica) and its oil-free extract increased bile secretion and 6, 7-dimethylaesculetin, which is one of the components of this crude drug, also showed the same effect. On the contrary, the extract of Rhei Rhizoma was not effective in this test. The extract prepared from "Inchinko-to" increased bile secretion and its action seemed to depend highly on that induced by Artemisiae Capillaris (Spica). The combination of genipin and 6, 7-dimethyl-aesculetin synergistically increased bile secretion.