WHO monographs on selected medicinal plants - travolekar.ru

<strong>WHO</strong> <strong>monographs</strong> on selected medicinal plants
teries (55, 56). At a concentration of 0.1 to 100.0 μM, berberine suppressed
basal tone and induced a concentration-dependent relaxation of phenylephrine-precontracted
rabbit corpus cavernosum in vitro (57). Intracavernous
injection of berberine to anaesthetized rabbits at a dose of
5.0 mg/kg bw increased intracavernosal pressure from 12.7 to 63.4 mmHg,
and the duration of tumescence ranged from 11.5 to 43.7 minutes (57).
Immunological effects
The crude drug is reported to have a potent suppressive effect on the cellular
immune response. The compounds OB-1 and OB-5 were isolated as
the active constituents of a methanol extract of the crude drug, and shown
to suppress local graft versus host reactions in mice. OB-1 and OB-5 were
identified as the quaternary alkaloids magnoflorine and phellodendrine,
respectively. Both compounds suppressed the local graft versus host reaction,
when given by intraperitoneal injection to the host mice at a dose of
5.0–20.0 mg/kg bw for 8 consecutive days from the day of spleen cell
transfer to cause the reaction. Both OB-1 and OB-5 suppressed delayedtype
hypersensitivity induced by picryl chloride, when given by intraperitoneal
injection to mice at a dose of 10.0 and 20.0 mg/kg bw for 5 consecutive
days from the day of the sensitization, but did not suppress it
when given at the time of the challenge (58). Phellodendrine suppressed
local semisyngeneic graft versus host reactions and systemic allogenic
graft versus host reactions in X-ray irradiated mice. Phellodendrine also
suppressed the induction phase of delayed-type hypersensitivity induced
by sheep red blood cells in mice and tuberculin-induced delayed-type
hypersensitivity in guinea-pigs (59). Intraperitoneal administration of
berberine to mice, at a daily dose of 10.0 mg/kg bw for 3 days before the
induction of tubulointerstitial nephritis, significantly reduced pathological
injury and improved renal function (p = 0.001), as well as decreasing
the number of CD3+, CD4+ and CD8+ T-lymphocytes as compared with
control animals (60).
Toxicology
The oral median lethal dose of berberine in mice was 329.0 mg/kg bw
(61). An oral dose of berberine (2.75 g) given to dogs produced severe
gastrointestinal irritation, profuse watery diarrhoea, salivation, muscular
tremors and paralysis. Respiration was not affected. Postmortem analysis
of the intestines found them to be contracted, inflamed, and empty or
containing mucus and watery fluid. An oral dose of 25.0 mg/kg bw of
berberine sulfate induced depression lasting for 6–8 hours; 50.0 mg/kg bw
caused salivation and sporadic emesis. A dose of 100.0 mg/kg bw induced
persistent emesis and death of all animals 8–10 days later (62).
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