Abstract
The antihepatotoxic activities of soyasaponin I and kaikasaponin III, triterpenoidal
saponins isolated from Abri Herba, the whole plant of Abrus cantoniensis , were studied on liver injury induced by CCl4 in primary cultured rat hepatocytes. The antihepatotoxic activities of these saponins
and glycyrrhizin (positive control) were demonstrated by measuring the levels of glutamic
pyruvic transaminase (GPT) and glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT). Soyasaponin
I inhibited the elevation of GOT and GPT activities. The activities were comparable
to those of glycyrrhizin. On the other hand, kaikasaponin III was more effective than
soyasaponin I and glycyrrhizin. Kaikasaponin III showed the antihepatotoxic activity
at less than 100 µg/ml. Furthermore, the highest activity was observed even in the
lower doses (50, 100 µg/ml). However, soyasaponin I and kaikasaponin III showed some
toxicity at the highest dose (500 µg/ml), though glycyrrhizin did not show toxicity
at any dose.
Key words
Antihepatotoxic activity - primary cultured rat hepatocytes - triterpenoidal saponin
- soyasaponin I - kaikasaponin III -
Abrus cantoniensis
- Leguminosae