The pharmacological properties of magnolol and hõnokiol, neolignane derivatives, extracted from Magnolia officinalis , used in Chinese and Japanese traditional medicine, for neurosis and gastrointestinal complaints, were investigated. Magnolol and hõnokiol produced sedation, ataxia, muscle relaxation and a loss of the righting reflex with an increase in dose of 50 to 500 mg/kg i.p. Magnolol and hõnokiol at a dose of 50 mg/kg suppressed spinal reflexes in young chicks in a similar manner, but with a much longer duration of action than mephenesin. Pretreatment of mice with magnolol 100 mg/kg inhibited tonic extensor convulsions and death produced by an intracerebroventricular injection of penicillin G potassium 50 µg. In rats, after an intraventricular injection of penicillin G 400 µg, magnolol suppressed the incidence of spike discharge, but not seizure discharge. Magnolol produced spindle discharges in sensory and motor cortex electroencephalograms and inhibited mid brain reticular formation- and hypothalamus-stimulated responses in the neo- and palaeo-cortex electroencephalograms, respectively. These results suggest that magnolol causes a depression of the ascending activating systems as well as of the spinal cord. Key Word Index Magnolia officinalis - Magnoliaceae - Magnolol - 5,5′-Diallyl-2,2′-dihydroxydiphenyl - Hōnokiol - Central depression - Muscle relaxation - Neolignane derivatives
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Watanabe et al. (1983) studied this question.