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Herba Chelidonii
rats were divided into three groups: rats in group 1 were initially given
MNNG (200 mg/kg bw) by gavage at days 0 and 14 as well as saturated
sodium chloride solution (1 ml per rat) every three days during weeks
0–3 (six doses in total), and were then fed a regular diet containing 0.1%
of the extract for 16 weeks starting at week 4. The rats in groups 2 and 3
were treated with MNNG together with saturated sodium chloride or
saline solution (0.9% sodium chloride, 1 ml per rat), respectively, for the
same time as those in group 1, but without further treatment. All surviving
animals were killed at week 20 and assessed histopathologically. The
number of preneoplastic pepsinogen 1 altered pyloric glands in the
glandular stomach of the rats treated with MNNG + sodium chloride +
extract (0.1%) (group 1) was significantly smaller (p < 0.02) than in the
rats treated with MNNG + sodium chloride (groups 2 and 3). The incidences
of neoplastic lesions of the fore stomach (papillomas and squamous
cell carcinomas) also showed a tendency to decrease in the animals
that received treatment with the extract. The results suggest that the
extract exerts an inhibitory effect on glandular stomach carcinogenesis
in the rat (69).
CM-Ala, a water-soluble, protein-bound polysaccaharide from Herba
Chelidonii, demonstrated cytotoxic activity in a diverse group of tumour
cells (70).
A crude 40% ethanol extract of Herba Chelidonii possessed marked
cytotoxicity, suppressing the growth of the human lymphoblastoid Raji
cells at concentrations of 10 and 50 µg/ml (71).
Ethanolic and aqueous extracts of Herba Chelidonii were evaluated
for their cytotoxic activity in the Artemia salina lethality bioassay using
umbelliferone and colchicine as active substances. No cytotoxicity of the
extracts was observed, and the results indicate the safety of Herba Chelidonii
for its traditional uses (72).
Immune stimulation
The CM-Ala fraction, separated from an aqueous extract of Herba Chelidonii,
was tested for immunostimulatory effects, including the generation
of activated natural killer cells, proliferation of splenocytes and the activation
of macrophages, as well as the assay of granulocyte macrophage colony
forming cells. CM-Ala enhanced cytotoxicity against Yac-1 tumour
cells from 0.88% to 34.18% after culturing with splenocytes for 5 days.
CM-Ala also increased nitric oxide production twofold in peritoneal
macrophages and exhibited cytotoxic activity. In addition, CM-Ala demonstrated
mitogenic activity in both spleen cells and bone marrow cells,
induced an 84-fold increase in the proliferation of splenocytes, and in-
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