Studies On The Bioactive Components For Liver Diseases Of The Tibetan Medicinal Substance Herpetospermum Seed

Herpetospermum seed is the dried ripe seed of Herpetospermumpedunculosum (Ser.) Baill. (H. caudigerum Wall) (Cucurbitaceae). As a commonly used Tibetan medicinal substance, it is recorded in Drug Standards-Tibetan Medicinal Substances (Vol.1), issued by The Ministry of Health. Herpetospermum seed is bitter in taste and cold in nature. Its actions include clearing heat from fu-organs (e.g. gallbladder), detoxifying, purging the fire, and aiding the digestion. It is indicated for liver heat syndrome, hepatitis A, etc.The prediction test of its chemical components shows that it contains alkaloids, amino acids, proteins, polypeptides, fatty oils, tannins, phenols, coumarins, lignans, triterpenes, steroids, saponins, etc. Phenyl furan compounds (such as Herpetal and Herpetoriol) and lignans (such as Herpetrione , Herpetetradione, Herpepentol, Herpetol, Herpetetrone) were isolated from this herb by Kaouadji Mourad et al. No pharmacological studies on Herpetospermum seed were ever reported.By utilizing the anti-hepatic injury test model, pioneer studies on the bioactive components for liver diseases were conducted. Followed by modern phytochemi c;P. techniques, method? of quality evaluation orHerpetospermum seed were established.The ethyl acetate extract of Herpetospermum seed showed a strong bioactivity against hepatic injury. Directed by this test result, 3 compounds were isolated and purified from this extract. By means of UV, IR, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, they were identified as (I) herpetf luorenone , ( II ) herpetone and (III) herpetenol. All are new compounds, which were isolated from the genus of Herpetospermum for the first time.Finger printing research on the ethyl acetate extract of Herpetospermum seed was conducted. The result shows that under the chosen experimental conditions, chemical components of the ethyl acetate extract have similar retention times and chromatograms, which indicates the finger printing is somehow meaningful as a measure of quality control when the chemical components are unknown.Herpetospermum seed contains a large amount of fatty oils. GC-MS analysis shows that its fatty oils mainly consist of unsaturated fatty acids, of which linolenic acid accounts for 12.08% and linolic acid 22. 90%. Linolenic acid and linolic acid belong to polyunsaturated fatty acids of n-3 and n-6 types. They have various physiological actions, such as promoting the functional activity of the nervous system, inhibiting the growth of tumors, etc. Herpetospermum seed is rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids, thus of potential value for further development and utilization.