Ak. Nyarko et Me. Addy, IN-VITRO SCREENING FOR THE ANTIANAPHYLACTIC AGENT IN THONNINGIA-SANGUINEA, Journal of ethnopharmacology, 41(1-2), 1994, pp. 45-51
Thonningia sanguinea, used prophylactically against bronchial asthma,
is anti-anaphylactic and anti-asthmatic in guinea pigs when given oral
ly. The aqueous extract of the plant and its fractions were screened i
n vitro for their effects on anaphylactic- and histamine-induced contr
actions, and the results compared with those obtained in vivo when the
whole extract was administered orally. The comparison showed similar
anti-anaphylactic properties of the plant material in the two systems
of administration, but the effects on histamine-induced contractions d
iffered from the in vivo ones, suggesting that the anaphylactic assay
system should be preferred for the screening in vitro. The anti-anaphy
lactic substance(s) extracted into n-butanol. The active portions of t
he extracted components appeared to be stable to acid digestion. Thin
layer chromatographic analysis of the butanol extract and preliminary
chemical analysis suggest that these substances are polyhydroxy/phenol
ic in nature.