Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
mortality induced by cecal ligation was not mediated through a direct antibacterial activity.
213
The
extract also significantly reduced mortality due to
E. coli
-induced peritonitis in mice.
213
A. racemosus
extract abolished neutropenia produced by a single dose (200 mg/kg s.c.) of cyclo-
phosphamide (a known myelosuppressive agent) and compared favorably with the effects of lithium
carbonate and glucan in checking the myelosuppressive effects of both single and multiple doses of
cyclophosphamide.
218
The test substances produced leukocytosis with a predominant neutrophilia
and prevented the cyclophosphamide-induced leukopenia. It has also been reported that the extract
of the plant improved macrophage function and reduced stress-induced gastric vascular damage.
219
In mice with hemisplenectomy,
A. racemosus
significantly reduced the mortality,
219
(28% vs. 100%
in controls) due to
E. coli
-induced sepsis.
Clinical Properties —
Asparagus racemosus
is used in Indian medicine for the treatment of dys-
entery, inflammation, biliousness, epilepsy, and ophthalmic diseases. Animal studies, summarized
previously, showed that the drug exerts its activity at least in part due to its immunostimulant property.
ASTRAGALUS GUMMIFER
Botanical Name —
Astragalus gummifer
Lab.
Synonyms —
A. strobiliferus
Royle,
A. erianthus
Willd.,
A. adpressus
Ehrenb. ex Walp,
A.
noemiae
Eig. var.
brantii
Eig.
Family —
Leguminosae
Common Name —
Tragacanth tree
African Names —
Arabic: shagal et ketira; Tuareg: adrilel.
Description —
Astragalus
species occur as thorny shrubs.
A. gummifer
is an umbellate shrub
with leaves composed of thorny rachis with 4-7 pairs mucronated and smooth leaflets. The flowers
are borne in clusters of two or three at the axils of the leaves.
9
Habitat and Distribution —
Plants are found in
steppe pastoral land and dry highlands up to
an altitude of 1800 m in the Sahel region. The species occurs in Sudan, Niger, Chad, and the Kano
Emirate of Nigeria.
Ethnomedicinal Studies —
The plant is employed in folk medicine as a laxative. The leaves are
used in the preparation of a wound-healing lotion. Tragacanth is the source of the pharmaceutical
suspending agent tragacanth gum.
Constituents —
The gum consists of a water-soluble polysaccharide portion known as bassorin.
Tragacanthin is made up of an arabinogalactan, tragacanthic acid, and alcohol and has a high molec-
ular weight (<800,000). The high-quality gums contain less tragacanthin.
220
Tragacanthin yields on
hydrolysis D-galacturonic, D-galactopyranose, L-fucose, D-xylopyranose, and L-arabofuranose.
The gum also contains trace amounts of amino acids and their derivatives.
Pharmacological Studies —
The polysaccharides from
A. gummifer
have been shown to have
stimulatory activity on phagocytosis and to increase the plasma cell counts of T-lymphocytes.
123
Tragacanth has also been found active against a variety of experimental tumors.
221
Mice pretreated
with extracts of the plant showed a reduction in the number of positive “takes” of translated Erlich
ascites cells.
221
A fraction of the aqueous extract of
A. membranaceous
roots, with molecular weight of 20,000-
25,000, has been shown to exert complete immune restoration of local xenogeneic graft-versus-host
reaction (XGVHR) in cancer patients.
222
The
in vitro
immunomodulatory activity of the fractions
of
A. membranaceus
was first determined from their effects on mononuclear cells (MNCs) derived
from healthy normal donors using the local XGVHR test system.
223
The extracts of MNCs derived
from 13 cancer patients induced a significant increase in local XGVHR when compared to untreated
MNCs derived from normal donor controls with the relative index (ratios) of 1.60 ± 0.48 and 1.23
± 0.17, respectively (
p
< 0.005).
226
Chu and his colleagues also found that when the active fraction
