NIS - libdoc.who.int - World Health Organization

Folium Plantaginis majoris
Anti-inflammatory activity
The intragastric administration of an aqueous extract of dried leaves of
P. major at a dose of 1 g/kg bw inhibited carrageenan-induced pleurisy
and plantar oedema in rats. A doubling of the dose of the extract (to 2 g/
kg bw) inhibited development of croton oil-induced granuloma (65). Ursolic
and oleanolic acids were isolated from a hexane extract of dried
leaves using bioactivity-directed fractionation. Both substances had antiinflammatory
activity (75).
Histamine release inhibiting activity
An ethanol extract of P. major leaves was tested for its ability to inhibit
histamine release from RBL-2H3 cells (rat basophilic leukaemia cell line),
a tumour analogue of mast cells. The ethanol extract (0.5 mg/ml) inhibited
immunoglobulin E-dependent histamine release from RBL-2H3 cells.
The inhibitory effect was greater than 80%. The results indicate that the
active components of this extract inhibiting mast cell degranulation could
be useful in the treatment of asthma (76).
Diuretic activity
Intragastric administration of a decoction of P. major leaves to rats, at a
dose of 1 g/kg bw, stimulated diuresis (55).
Antitumour effects
A 70% ethanol extract and an aqueous-ethanol (1:1) extract of dried leaves
demonstrated anticrustacean activity in the Artemia salina assay at a median
lethal concentration of 7 µg/ml and a median inhibitory concentration
of 4.74 µg/ml, respectively. The ethanol extract also inhibited
β-glucuronidase activity at a median inhibitory concentration of 17 µg/ml
(77). Fifty-two per cent inhibition of sarcoma 180 (ASC) cell growth was
detected in vivo in mice after intraperitoneal injection of 0.2 mg/kg of a
95% ethanol extract for 5 days (78). In a chronic experiment in rats, administration
of a polyphenolic complex from P. major leaves – plantastine
(the route of administration was not mentioned) decreased the effect of an
endogenously synthesized carcinogen, nitroso-diethylamine. This carcinogenic
compound is synthesized in rats following the long-term administration
of amidopyrine and sodium nitrite causing toxic damage to the
liver and production of tumours. The number of neoplasms was 33.3% in
animals receiving plantastine and 87.5% in rats given the amidopyrine/
sodium nitrite combination. Plantastine also decreased the normal level of
enzyme activity induced by amidopyrine and sodium nitrite (79). A
methanol extract from air-dried and powdered Plantago leaves was evalu-
321