Pharmacological studies on the crude drug ‘Hwang‐Jin‐Guey’ from Taiwan (1)

Three different crude drugs take the same name ‘Hwang‐jin‐guey’ on the Taiwan market, they are (1) Cudrania cochinchinensis var. gerontogea (Moraceae), (2) Ventilago leiocarpa (Rhamnaceae) and (3) Viscum multinerve (Loranthaceae). To clarify and compare the pharmacological actions of these folk medicines, the antiinflammatory and liver‐protective effects of their aqueous and ethanol extracts were investigated. The results showed that the aqueous extracts of C. cochinchinensis (300 mg/kg), V. leiocarpa (300 mg/kg) and ethanol extract of C. cochinchinensis (100 mg/kg) displayed marked antiinflammatory activity compared to indomethacin. An ethanol extract of V. leiocarpa (300 mg/kg) exhibited a comparable inhibitory effect to indomethacin in the paw oedema induced by carrageenan. As to the liver‐protective effect, the statistical analysis (ANOVA) indicated that the aqueous (100 mg/kg) and ethanol (300 mg/kg) extracts of C. cochinchinensis presented pronounced activities against CCI4‐induced acute liver damage. However, treatment with V. multinerve offered no protection against CCI4‐induced hepatotoxicity, whether aqueous or ethanol extracts. These phenomena were also confirmed by histological observation.