The Pharmacological Study Of Two Iridoids

The iridoid glucosides from the seeds of Eucommia ulmoides Oliver (ISE), which contain 75% Aucubin (AU), is a kind of iridoid; the iridoid glucosides from the overground part of Gmacrophylla Pall.(IOG), whose main compound is gentiopicrin, is a kind of secoiridoid, and the content is above the 55%. In order to find new functions of the two herbs, we conducted some pharmacological experiments about the osteoporosis and stomach and intestine activity.The first part is the effect of ISE on osteoporosis. Osteoporosis, a common disease characterized by a decreased BMD and a microarchitectural deterioration of bone structure, is cause of the unbalance of osteolysis and osteogenesis by osteoblast and osteoclast. The effect of ISE on the osteoblast was evaluated by the 3-(4, 5-Dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2, 5-diphenyl-2 H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) method and the activity of alkaline phosphatase (ALP). Moreover, the effect of ISE on the retinoic acid-induced osteoporosis rats was investigated by the assessments of bone mineral density (BMD), bone biomechanics, blood serum estrogen and the weight of purtenance. The second part is the effect of IOG on stomach and intestine activity, which was observed by the gastric emptying rate, small intestine pushing rate, total acidity of gastric juice, pepsin activity of Sprague-Dawley rats and mice.The results showed that ISE could significantly stimulate the proliferation of osteoblast and increased the alkaline phosphatase activity of osteoblast, moreover, it could significantly increase BMD and bone biomechanics. But ISE have no effect on the blood serum estrogen and the weight of purtenance. This finding suggests that ISE is potentially useful for postmenopausal osteoporosis, which occurs in women as a result of estrogen deficiency, and it might be a kind of estrogen replacement therapy. Other part experiments showed that IOG could significantly increase the small intestine pushing rate, total acidity of gastric juice, pepsin activity of rats and mice, and it has the same effects of the iridoid glucosides from the radix of Gmacrophylla Pall. The results expressed that IOG would be a new resource for stomach drug.In this paper, we conducted the pharmacological experiments for Eucommia ulmoides Oliver and Gmacrophylla Pall., which are the valuable data for their further researches.