Preliminary pharmacological study of the pterocarpans macckian and trifolirhizin isolated from the roots of Ononis vaginalis.

Preliminary pharmacological study was conducted for the pterocarpans macckian (Mac) and trifolirhizin (Trif). The two compounds isolated from Ononis vaginalis were tested for their hepatoprotective effects against CCl4 induced hepatotoxicity in rats. Activity was accessed by measuring liver enzymes and NP-SH groups. Estrogenic activity was expressed as increase in uterine weight of young female rats. Rat paw edema as a model of acute inflammation induced in Wistar rats using carragenan was used to evaluate the anti-inflammatory activity. Percentage inhibition of the aggregation induced by adenosine diphosphate (ADP) to platelets-rich plasma (PRP) obtained from rats was used as measure for antiplatelet aggregation effect. The aglycone Mac was only more active than the glycoside Trif in the anti-inflammatory assay. It resulted in 65.7% reduction in carregeenan induced rat paw edema compares with 79.8% reduction by indomethacin at the same molar concentration. The activity of Trif was about half of that of silymarin in reducing the elevated levels of liver enzymes at the same molar concentration. About 10 fold molar concentration of Trif produced about half fold increase in uterine weight produced by 17beta-estradiol.