["Dose-toxicity" relationship study on rat's chronic hepatoxicity of refined products of saikosaponin by alcohol elution].

Objective: To observe the degree of hepatoxicity damage to rats after taking different dose refined products of saikosaponin by alcohol elution for 15 days.

Method: Caculated by total saikosaponins, the high, middle and low lose-group were respectively lavaged 300, 150, 50 mg x kg(-1) refined products of saikosaponin by alcohol elution to rats. General state, the related index of hepatic function, renal function, the metabolism condition of lipids, the glycometabolism were all observed. After the rats dissected, the weight of heart, liver, spleen, lung, renal were precisely measured, and the ratio of organ to body was then calculated. The histopathologic of hepatic tissue was also examined.

Result: Different dose refined products of saikosaponin by alcohol elution can induce the rats'body weight decreasing, the level of ALT, AST, AKP, ALB and TBI in serum increasing, the liver weight and the ratio of liver to body increasing. The hepatic tissue damage is obvious in the histopathologic examination of hepatic tissue. The above-mentioned indices gradually aggravate with dose increasin, and obviously different with distilled water control group. The influence on the content of BUN, Cr, TPC, CHO and GLU is not obvious.

Conclusion: The degree of hepatoxicity damage caused by Bupleurum chinense has dose dependence with the dose of Bupleurum chinense and the content of saikosaponin, which showed some "dose-toxicity" relationship. The saikosaponin is mainly toxical component which induces the hepatoxicity. The refined products of saikosaponin by alcohol elution (81.9%) administrated continuously to rats for 15 days under the certain dose can significantly induce the organic lesions to rats liver with the main pathological changes of cell damage and necrosis.