The dried berries of Schisandra chinensis Baill. or S. sphenanthera have
been used in the traditional Chinese medicine as tonic and sedative since
more than 2000 years. Schisandra (the spelling Schizandra is common but actually
not correct) is a vine belonging to the Magnoliaceae which is being been culitvated
in recent years also in Europe. Dried Schisandra berries are administered
in dosages from 2 to 5 g (KEYS 1976, TANG & EISENBRAND 1992). As Schisandrae
Fructus they are described in the chinese pharmacopoeia. Schisandra has been
subject of extensive chemical analytical anf pharmacological investigations.
As active components lignanes were identified, e.g. the groups of Schizanterines,
Gomisins and Schizandroles. The percentage of the Lignanes varies from 7.2%
to 19.2% in dependence of the variety and geographical provenance. Pharmacological
studies have been carried out with the original drug, with extracts as well
as with isolated lignanes. (TANG & EISENBRAND 1992).
OHTAKI (1996) investigated the protective effect of Gomisin
A, a priincipal lignane of S. sinensis, against experimentally induced neoplasms
of the liver. The substance has apparently an anti-promotor effect which is
presumably based on an enhance gallic acid metabolism. A further investigation
of the hepatoprotective properties of S. sinensis has been done by IP (1996).
The effect of Schisandra lignanes is assumed to be partly caused by quenching
of free radicals. LIU (1989) showed a protective effect of ethanolic Schisandra
extract in cases of tetrachloro carbon poisoning. The liver toxicity of tetrachloro
carbon poisoning is caused by the generation of trichloromethyl radicals
formed in presence of Cytochrom P450. Die trichloro methyl radicals react
with oxygen to peroxy trichloromethyl radicals which initiate a rapid lipid
peroxidation. The radical formation by tetrachloro carbon may therefore serve
as a model reaction for damages caused by free radicals in general. LU and
LIU (1992) determined the antioxidative properties of various S. sinensis
lignanes in comparison with vitamin E. The majority of the invstigated lignanes
were in in-vitro assays clearly more effective than vitmamin E. A triterpene
isolated from S. sphaerandra was described by SUN et al. (1996) as inhibitor
of the reverse transkriptase of HIV and can therefore be considered a potential
anti AIDS agent. NISHIYAMA and coworker (1995) have tested a combined phytotherapeutic
preparation of S. sinensis, Biota orientalis and P. ginseng on mice whose
learning capability had been affected by adinistration of alcohol and scopolamine.
An improvement of the memory was observed. Comparable tests (NISHIYAMA et
al., 1996) carried out on senescence accelerated mice showed a similarly memory
enhancing effect which demosntrates a potential usefulness in cases of age
related memory deterioration.
References:
IP, S.P., et al., 1996: Effect of a lignan-enriched extract of Schisandra
chinensis on aflatoxin B1 and cadmium chloride-induced hepatotoxicity in rats.
Pharmacol. Toxicol. 1996, 413-416 (1996)
KEYS, J.D., 1976: Chinese Herbs; C.E. Tuttle, Rutland (VT) and Tokyo, 1976
LU, H., & LIU, G.T., 1992: Anti-oxidant activity of dibenzocyclooctene
lignans isolated from Schisandraceae. Planta Med. 58: 311-313 (1992)
LIU, G., 1989: Pharmacological actions and clinical use of Fructus schizandrae.
Chinese Medical Journal, 102:740-749 (1989) (zitiert viele nurauf chinesisch
vorliegende Arbeiten)
NISHIYAMA, N., et al., 1995: Beneficial effects of S-113m, a novel herbal
prescription, on learning impairment model in mice. Biol. Pharm. Bull. 18:
1498-1503 (1995)
NISHIYAMA, N., et al., 1996: An herbal prescription, S-113m, consisting
of biota, ginseng and schizandra, improves learning performance in senescence
accelerated mouse. Biol. Pharm. Bull. 19: 388-393 (1996)
OHTAKI, Y., et al., 1996: Deoxycholic acid as an endogenous risk factor
for hepatocarcinogenesis and effects of gomisin A, a lignan component of Schisandra
fruits. Anticancer Res. 16: 751-755 (1996)
SUN, H.D., et al., 1996: Nigranoic acid, a triterpenoid from Schisandra
sphaerandra that inhibits HIV-1 reverse transcriptase. J. Nat. Prod. 59: 525-527
(1996)
TANG, W., & EISENBRAND, G., 1992: Chinese Drugs of Plant Origin. Springer
Verlag, Berlin, 1992
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