NIS - libdoc.who.int - World Health Organization

WHO monographs on medicinal plants commonly used in the Newly Independent States (NIS)
Medicinal uses
Uses supported by clinical data
The fruits of Hippophaë rhamnoides are used in the treatment of cirrhosis
of the liver (54).
Uses described in pharmacopoeias and well established documents
The fruits of Hippophaë rhamnoides are used to relieve cough with profuse
expectoration, to promote digestion in people with prolonged gastrointestinal
transit with abdominal pain, and for treatment of amenorrhoea
(39). Fruit decoctions are used externally as a wash to treat
traumatic swelling and cutaneous eruptions (21).
Uses described in traditional medicine
In the Islamic Republic of Iran, ethanol extracts of Hippophaë fruits are
used internally as an astringent and anthelminthic. There are data on the
use of dried fruits in patients with scurvy. Hippophaë fruits have been
used extensively in India and Tibet for the treatment of circulatory disorders,
ischaemic heart disease and hepatic injury (55, 56).
Pharmacology
Experimental pharmacology
Antioxidant, radioprotective and immunomodulatory activities
The effects of an extract from fresh H. rhamnoides fruits and of vitamin E
(positive control) against nicotine-induced oxidative stress were assessed
in vitro in rat blood. Alterations in erythrocyte malondialdehyde levels,
activity of some erythrocyte antioxidant enzymes, and plasma levels of
vitamins E and A were determined. Groups of eight rats each were treated
with: nicotine (0.5 mg/kg/day, administered intraperitoneally); nicotine +
vitamin E (75 mg/kg/day, administered intragastrically); nicotine + extract
(1 ml/kg/day, administered intragastrically); and a control group received
no treatment. It was observed that nicotine-induced increase of
malondialdehyde levels was prevented by the extract and by vitamin E.
Nicotine-induced decrease in superoxide dismutase activity was prevented
by the extract, but not by vitamin E. Glutathione activity was higher
in the group of rats given the extract. These results suggest that extracts of
H. rhamnoides may prevent nicotine-induced oxidative stress (57). The
effect of an ethanol extract of Hippophaë fruits on radiation and chemical
oxidant-mediated DNA damage was evaluated. Antioxidant activity was
assessed using 2-deoxyribose degradation and 2,2-bipiridyl assays in
mice. Both the in vitro and ex vivo samples were exposed to gamma ra-
192