NIS - libdoc.who.int - World Health Organization

WHO monographs on medicinal plants commonly used in the Newly Independent States (NIS)
mice. Mice were administered an aqueous solution of lead acetate (10 mg/
kg bw per day) by intraperitoneal injection for 20 days. The juice (20%
and 40%) prevented lead-induced decreases in the step-through latency
test. In the water maze test, the swimming time was lengthened in mice
treated with lead acetate, but was decreased in mice which received juice.
The increase in malondialdehyde levels in lead-treated mice was reduced
in a dose-dependent manner by the juice at concentrations of both 20%
and 40%. The significantly increased activities of acetylcholinesterase and
monoamine oxidase in the lead-treated group were decreased by juice at a
concentration of 40%. The significantly decreased levels of norepinephrine,
serotonin and 5-hydroxyindole acetic acid in the lead-treated mice
were normalized by the juice at a concentration of 40% (62).
Antibacterial activity
Ethanol and aqueous extracts of H. rhamnoides fruits were screened for
anti-Helicobacter pylori activity in vitro. The final concentrations of extracts
in the medium were 200, 100, 60, 40, 20, 10 and 5 µg/ml. By using
the agar dilution method, significant anti-H. pylori activity was detected
at a minimum inhibitory concentration of approximately 60 µg/ml (63).
Antitumour activity
An experimental in vivo model of liver, lung and kidney carcinomas was
developed by feeding Wistar rats with aminopyrine plus sodium nitrite.
The control group received aminopyrine plus sodium nitrite (2 g/kg each),
and the other two groups were given aminopyrine plus sodium nitrite
with the addition of either ascorbic acid or the juice of H. rhamnoides.
After 38 weeks, microscopic examination of the livers of the rats in the
group that had received the juice showed fewer foci of carcinogenesis than
the other groups. In addition, the average life-span was significantly longer
(270 days) than that of the animals that received ascorbic acid (195 days,
p < 0.01). The results suggest that the juice could block the in vivo synthesis
of nitroso compounds in rats more effectively than ascorbic acid (64).
Antimutagenic effects
A study was performed to investigate the effect of juice from Hippophaë
fruits against the genotoxic action of cisplatin in male Swiss albino mice.
Both positive and negative control groups were included in the study.
Freshly prepared juice (0.3 ml) was given to mice by gavage for 5 or
10 days. Three hours after the last gavage, mice received cisplatin at doses
of either 1.2 or 2.4 mg/kg bw, administered intraperitoneally. The frequency
of micronuclei was studied in bone marrow polychromatic eryth-
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