EFFECTS OF ARTEMISIA-FILIFOLIA AND HELENIUM-FLEXUOSUM ON DISPOSITION OF ANTIPYRINE IN RABBITS

The objectives of the present experiment were to determine the effects of Artemisia filifolia or Helenium flexuosum ingestion on antipyrine disposition as an indirect index of mixed function oxidase (MFO) activ ity and to evaluate the rabbit as an animal model for assessing the im pact of xenobiotics in food. Twelve adult male New Zealand white rabbi ts were acclimated and maintained on commercial rabbit pellets for 1 w before treatment commenced. On day 1, all rabbits were given 25 mg an tipyrine/kg iv. Beginning on day 14, 6 of the rabbits were fed A filif olia and the other 6 were fed H flexuosum at 250 mg/kg daily for 5 d. Antipyrine injection was repeated in all rabbits on day 19. Serial blo od samples were taken fol lowing each antipyrine administration and se rum concentrations determined and subjected to pharmacokinetic analysi s. Administration of H flexuosum significantly increased antipyrine ha lf-life elimination from 99.5+/-15 min to 215.5+/-28min, typical of an inhibitory-type effect on MFO. Administration of A filifolia was not accompanied by a significant change in antipyrine disposition, Rabbits appear to be appropriate animal models for evaluating the effect of p lant ingestion on hepatic biotransformation.