HYPOTENSIVE AND DIURETIC EFFECT OF EQUISETUM-BOGOTENSE AND FUCHSIA-MAGELLANICA AND MICROPROPAGATION OF E-BOGOTENSE

Equisetum bogotense (Fquisetaceae) and Fuchsia magellanica (Onagraceae ) were used by the Mapuche Amerindians as diuretics. Intravenous admin istration of hydroalcoholic extracts to rats elicited a hypotensive re sponse of -29.0%+/-4.5% and -24.2%+/-0.5% respectively in the mean blo od pressure of normotensive animals at a dose of 5 mg crude extract/kg body weight. The activity was found to be related with polar compound s. For Fuchsia, the active principles are related to tannins. A single oral dose of 500 mg/kg body weight Equisetum extract produced a signi ficant increase (p < 0.05) in the urine output in rats, while in Fuchs ia a reduction in diuresis was observed. The diuretic effect of the Eq uisetum extract was weak compared with hydrochlorothiazide at 25 mg/kg body weight. The data presented support the use of E. bogotense in Ch ilean traditional medicine. A micropropagation method for E. bogotense was established by culturing shoot tips in Murashige-Skoog medium wit h macro and micronutrients diluted 4-fold and containing 0.1 mg/L thia mine, 100 mg/L myoinositol, 1.0 mg/L NAA and 0.1 mg/L BAP.