HEPATOPROTECTIVE EFFECTS OF TRADITIONAL MEDICINES - ISOLATION OF THE ACTIVE CONSTITUENT FROM SEEDS OF CELOSIA-ARGENTEA

The hepatoprotective effects of water extracts from twelve crude drugs were investigated. Among them, the water extracts of Cassia obtusifol ia, Celosia argentea, Cucurbita moschata and Curcuma aeruginosa showed a significant protective effect on carbon tetrachloride induced liver injury in rats and D-galactosamine (D-GalN)/lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced liver injury in mice. The water extract of C. argentea was fou nd to be the most effective. The hepatoprotective activity guided frac tionation of this extract led to the isolation of an active constituen t, This component was named as celosian, and was found to be an acidic heteroglycan (molecular weight: 1.9 x 10(5)) containing 4% of protein s.