Protective Effects Of Water Extract Research Articles

Evaluation of root quality of Bupleurum species by TLC scanner and the liver protective effects of “Xiao-chai-hu-tang” prepared using three different Bupleurum species

A simple and quick quantitative analysis of saikosaponins a, c and d, the major bioactive principles contained in Bupleurum species, by TLC scanner is described. Results with Bupleurum kaoi, the species native to Taiwan, showed that the roots, rhizomes and aerial parts (leaves and stem) have greater quantities of saikosaponins than cultivated B. falcatum var. komarowi and imported B. chinense. The liver protective effects of water extracts of “Xiao-Chai-Hu-Tang” (XCHT), a mixture of seven crude drugs, prepared using roots of the three different Bupleurum species and aerial parts of B. kaoi and B. falcatum var. komarowi, were evaluated using CCl 4-induced toxicity in rats. The acute increase of serum transaminase (SGOT and SGPT) levels caused by CCl 4 administration (3.0 ml kg , s.c.) was dramatically reduced when treated with XCHT prepared with the roots of B. kaoi. The histological metamorphoses such as fatty changes, ballooning degeneration, cell necrosis and lymphocyte and Kupffer cell increases around the central vein, were clearly decreased by XCHT prepared with B. kaoi. Furthermore, water extracts of aerial parts of both B. kaoi and cultivated B. falcatum var. komarowi decreased SGOT and SGPT levels and moderately reduced the pathological changes.

The Pharmacological and Pathological Studies on Taiwan Folk Medicine (III): The Effects of Bupleurum Kaoi and Cultivated Bupleurum Falcatum var. Komarowi

The protective effects of water extract from roots of Bupleurum kaoi Liu, Chao et Chuang and Bupleurum flacatum L. var. Komarowi Koso-Polj on CCl4-induced hepatoxicity have been investigated. Both B. kaoi (p less than 0.05) and B. falcatum var. komarowi (p less than 0.01) possessed more marked anti-hepatotoxic pharmacological effects than Bupleurum chinense DC., the typical strain widely used in Taiwan. The pathological improvement from treatment by means of the three drugs to alleviate CCl4-induced hepatic toxicity was estimated using morphological changes of hepatocytes, reduction of inflammatory cells infiltration and liver function tests.