A COMPARISON OF THE PROTECTIVE ACTIONS OF BIPHENYL DIMETHYL-DICARBOXYLATE, TRANS-STILBENE, ALCOHOLIC EXTRACTS OF FRUCTUS SCHIZANDRAE AND GANODERMA AGAINST EXPERIMENTAL LIVER INJURY IN MICE

Ganoderma and Fructus Schizandrae were found to have SGPT-lowering action in hepatitis patients and in CCl₄-intoxicated animals. Trans-stilbene is a chemical reagent. Biphenyl-dimethyl-dicarboxylate is an intermediate in the process of synthesizing Schizandrin C, an active component isolated from Fructus Schizandrae. Both trans-stilbene and biphenyl-dimethyl-dicarboxylate were also shown to be capable of lowering the elevated SGPT levels in mice. In order to further understand the actions of the four agents mentioned above on liver, the following experiments were carried out in mice.The preparations of Ganoderma and Fructus schizandrae used were alcohol-ether extracts.In CCl₄ or thioacetamide intoxicated mice, prior oral administration of the four agents were shown to be effective for impeding the elevation of SGPT levels. All these agents, except biphenyl-dimethyl-dicarboxylate, were found to be able to decrease the accumulation of triglyceride in liver. The elevation of SGPT induced by the injection of prednisolone was impeded significantly by biphenyl-dimethyl-dicarboxylate but not by the other three agents. As to the prevention of the accumulation of triglyceride in liver, only trans-stilbene was shown to be active. On the contrary, Ganoderma potentiated the accumulation of triglyceride in liver caused by prednisolone.All the four agents were found to have no direct inhibitory action of the activity of SGPT in vitro.Ganoderma and trans-stilbene were shown to prevent the development of fatty liver induced by giving dl-ethionine, whereas Fructus Schizandrae was inactive. For promotion of glycogenesis in fasted mice, Frucutus Schizandrae and trans-stilbene were effective. In addition, Fructus Schizandrae was found to shorten pentobarbital sleeping time in both normal and CCl₄-intoxicated mice, while biphenyl-dimethyl-dicarboxylate only shortened pentobarbital sleeping time in CCl₄-intoxicated mice but not in normal mice.These resuhs indicate that the pharmacological actions of Ganoderma, Fructus Schizandrae, trans-stilbene and biphenyl-dimethyl-dicarboxylate on liver are different from each other, although they all have SGPT-lowering action in CCl₄ and thioacetamide intoxicated mice.