PHARMACOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF AN EXTRACT OF PANAX NOTOGIENSENG (BURK.) F H CHEN ON THE HEART

A total extract (named number 17) was isolated from the fibrous root of Panax notogienseng (Burk.) F H chen by the Yunnan Medicinal Institute. The present paper reports the experimental results of this extract on the heart.In perfused isolated hearts of guinea pigs, number 17 can increase the coronary blood flow, an increase of 84.04% on normal beating hearts was noted With an inotropic effect. However, no obvious change in heart rate was noted. The increase on fibrillating hearts reached only 65.06%. The decrease of coronary flow induced by pituitrin in beating hearts of guinea pigs was converted to an increase of 83.78% by perfusion of number 17.The blood flow of the coronary venous sinus was measured by an inserted pipe in open-chest dogs. Number 17 increased the coronary flow to 57.03% by injection into the duodenum and lasted for over 3 hours, associated with decrease of heart rate and fall of arterial blood pressure.Myocardial oxygen consumption was analysed by Roughton-Scholander method and calculated from blood samples withdrawn from the femoral artery and the coronary venous sinus. It was found that number 17 increased the myocardial oxygen consumption to 64.30%.The oxygen consumption of myocardial homogenate of rats was studied by Warburg's manometric method. When pyruvate was used as the substrate, number 17 inhibited the oxygen consumption but increase oxygen consumption if succinate was used as the substrate.According to Maroko's method, studies were carried out in anesthetized dogs. The S-T segment elevation on epicardial electrocardiogram was used as an index of myocardial ischemic injury on experimental coronary artery occlusion. The experimental results indicate that number 17 had no protection for myocardial ischemic injury, while propranolol protected it significantly.