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Fructus Hippophaës recens
rocytes 24 hours after the injection of cisplatin. The abnormality of sperm
heads was studied by microscopy. Administration of the juice decreased
the number of micronuclei in bone marrow cells induced by a dose of
1.2 mg/kg of cisplatin by 36.5% and 47.9% after being given juice for 5
and 10 days, respectively (the difference between the two periods was not
significant, p > 0.05), and by 19% (a statistically insignificant reduction,
p > 0.05) when the dose of cisplatin was 2.4 mg/kg. The juice of Fructus
Hippophaës recens thus significantly decreased the genotoxic effect of
cisplatin (1.2 mg/kg) on somatic (bone marrow) and germ (sperm) cells
but the decrease was not significant when the dose of cisplatin was 2.4 mg/
kg. The juice similarly protected sperm heads from damage at the lower
dose of cisplatin, but there was no significant protection at the higher
dose (65).
Toxicology
The median lethal dose (LD 50
) of a 50% ethanol-aqueous extract of the
fruits has been reported as greater than 1000 mg/kg (administered by intraperitoneal
injection) in mice (66).
Clinical pharmacology
Liver cirrhosis
The effect of an ethanol extract of Hippophaë fruits on the liver was assessed
in a randomized clinical trial with positive controls in 50 patients with cirrhosis
of the liver, which had resulted from hepatitis B or alcoholism (grades
A and B according to the Child-Pugh Classification of Severity of Liver
Disease). The patients were divided into two groups. Patients in the first
group (n = 30) received 15 g of the extract by the oral route, three times a day
for 6 months. Subjects in the second group (n = 20) took one tablet of vitamin
B complex, three times a day for 6 months. The serum levels of tumour
necrosis factor (TNFα), interleukin-6, serum albumin, type IV collagen, aspartate
aminotransferase (AST), and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) were
measured before and after the treatment in both groups. These substances
have many biological functions, such as promoting cell proliferation and
differentiation, and participation in the process of immunological reaction
and inflammation. Before treatment, the peripheral blood level of the abovelisted
factors was significantly higher in the subjects with liver cirrhosis.
After a course of treatment with the extract of Hippophaë fruits, the rates of
normalization were 80% for ALT and AST, compared to 56% following
treatment with vitamin B. The serum levels of collagen type IV, TNFα, and
interleukin-6, were significantly lower in the group treated with the extract
of Hippophaë fruit than in the group that received vitamin B (p < 0.05). The
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