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KMID : 0378019600030010037
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New Medical Journal
1960 Volume.3 No. 1 p.37 ~ p.41
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Histamine-liberating Action of Ginseng
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Abstract
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Ginseng has been employed empirically in Asian countries for centuries for a large variety of disorders as a panacea and it is known as king of the Chinese drugs in Oriental Medicine.. However, modern scientific investigations have failed to demonstrate its curious effects. As a result of numerous chemical studies, several glycosides including panaquilon, panax-saponine and etherial and nonetherial components have been isolated from ginseng. Both the crude extract and its chemically-pure components have been subjected to various pharmacological
s investigations, but,the experimental results are not
E enough to represent the clinical value of this drug.
s Among the studies of ginseng on the cardiovascular system, many investigators (Sakai, 1915; Yonekawa,
e 1926; Kim, 1931) have observed that the ginseng
s extract causes a marked fall in blood pressure and have ascribed it to a central depression without any conclusive evidence. The present studies were undertaken to evaluate the mechanism of its hypotensive effects.
The ginseng employed in the present studies is
E the red ginseng ´made in the Monopoly Department of Korea. The water extract was prepared according to the usual method; one milliliter of this extract is equivalent to one gram of ginseng root.
In the anesthetized dog with pentobarbital sodium (35 mg/Kg), the ginseng extract (0.5 ml. /Kg) produced a marked hypotension 2030 seconds after intravenous administration. This effect was greatly diminished or absent on subsequent administration,
indicating development of tachyphylaxis. The delay hypotension and subsequent tachyphylaxis suggested ´s that a component in the extract caused the release of histamine. Prior administration of an antihistaminic, chlorpheniramine (Chlor-trimeton) in a dose e of 1.5 mg/Kg blocked the hypotension produced by ginseng extract.
The histamine content of plasma was estimated E by means of an assay utilizing atropinized guinea pig ileum. The averge plasma concentration of histamine in five dogs two to three minutes following the intravenous injection of ginseng extract was i 0.12 + 0.04 pg./ml. This concentration is slightly higher than that detected immediately after intravenous administration of 10 ug. /Kg. of histamine E phosphate(0.09 0.03 pg./ml.). The hematocrit after the administration of ginseng extract and histamine appeared to be slightly increaseed. ´It should be mentioned that the ginseng extract did not contain histamine as determined by the assay method al pied in this experiment. In the preliminary experiment, it was found that only higher content rations of ginseng extract caused a slight transitory depression on the isolated heart preparations of dogs and cats. From these results it may be concluded E that the hypotensive effect of ginseng can be accounted for mainly through the release of histamine. i
The effect of ginseng extract on the permeability of capillaries in -rat skin to trypan blue was deter-mined according to the procedure described by Miles and Miles (1952). It was found that 1% ginseng extract in saline produced a bluing slightly greater than that caused by 10 ug of histamine phosphate. The injection of saline produced essentially no bluing. Prior administraion of chlorpheniramine preve nted the bluing produced by ginseng extract or ´ histamine phosphate. These results, as well as those i obtained with dogs, are consistent with the view that ginseng extract contains a component which releases histamine.
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