NIS - libdoc.who.int - World Health Organization

WHO monographs on medicinal plants commonly used in the Newly Independent States (NIS)
Antiplatelet activity
An aqueous extract of the dried aerial parts at a concentration of 1 mg/ml
significantly inhibited collagen-, thrombin- and ADP-induced platelet
aggregation in vitro (91.9%, p < 0.001). This antiaggregatory effect was
dose-dependent (62, 63).
Antioxidant, hepatoprotective and radical scavenging effects
An aqueous extract of the dried aerial parts (30 µl) exhibited radical scavenging
effects in cultured lines of microsomes (64). The antioxidative activity
of water and ethanol extracts of the aerial parts was investigated
using different methods. The content of total phenolic components was
higher in the ethanol extract, but the protein content was higher in the
aqueous extract. The extracts had remarkable antioxidative activities, similar
to those of 5 mM ascorbic acid. Water extracts showed high superoxide
anion radical-scavenging activities. Hydroxyl radicals were effectively
scavenged by ethanol extracts. The effects may be due to the presence of
vitamins C and E, copper and zinc (65). Compounds isolated from the
methanol extract of the plant (the phenolic petrosin onitin and flavonoid
luteolin) exhibited hepatoprotective activities in vitro against tacrine-induced
cytotoxicity in human liver-derived Hep G2 cells, displaying median
effective concentrations (EC 50
) values of 85.8 ± 9.3 µM and 20.2 ±
1.4 µM, respectively. Silybin, used as a positive control, showed an EC 50
value of 69.0 ± 3.3 µM. The isolated compounds also showed superoxide
scavenging effects (IC 50
, 35.3 ± 0.2 µM and 5.9 ± 0.3 µM, respectively) and
1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl-2,2-di(4-tert-octylphenyl)–1–picrylhydrazyl
free radical scavenging effect (IC 50
, 35.8 ± 0.4 µM and 22.7 ±
2.8 µM, respectively) (36).
Uterine stimulant activity
A weak in vitro uterine stimulant effect of a methanol extract of the aerial
parts was observed using isolated uterus (unspecified condition) preparations
from female rats at a dose of 5 mg/ml (66).
Toxicology
A methanol extract of the plant at a median effective dose of 20 µg/ml had
a cytotoxic effect in a human leukaemia cell line (L1210) (67). A 10% aqueous
extract and a methanol extract at a concentration of 50 µg/ml showed
no cytotoxic activity in either HeLa or 9KB cell cultures (68, 69). Oral administration
of the dried entire plant (in rations) at variable concentrations
(20% or more) caused an acute vitamin B 1
deficiency (antithiamine activity)
in horses within 2–5 weeks, an effect known as equisetosis (38, 70).
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