Wright C W, Gott M, Grayson B, Hanna M, Smith A G, Sunter A, Neill J C
Bradford School of Pharmacy, University of Bradford, Bradford, UK.
J Psychopharmacol. 2003 Dec;17(4):403-8. doi: 10.1177/0269881103174018.
Extracts of the herb St John's Wort have been shown to reduce alcohol intake in alcohol-preferring rats, but it is not known which of the constituent(s) are responsible for this effect. In this study, the effect of a crude methanolic extract of Hypericum perforatum (negligible hyperforin content) on alcohol drinking in C57BL/6J alcohol-preferring mice was compared with that of a hyperforin-rich extract (45% hyperforin) prepared by extracting the herb with supercritical carbon dioxide. The dose of the hyperforin-rich extract required to significantly reduce 10% ethanol intake (5 mg/kg) was 125-fold less than that required for the crude extract (625 mg/kg), and was comparable to the dose of fluoxetine (10 mg/kg) required to produce a similar effect. None of these agents significantly affected water intake. These results suggest that the effects of H. perforatum extracts on alcohol drinking behaviour are due to the hyperforin content of the herb rather than to other, more polar constituents. Hyperforin is an unstable compound and this study also highlights the effect of different methods of extract preparation on hyperforin content.
圣约翰草提取物已被证明可减少偏爱酒精的大鼠的酒精摄入量，但尚不清楚是哪种成分导致了这种效果。在本研究中，将贯叶连翘粗甲醇提取物（金丝桃素含量可忽略不计）对C57BL/6J偏爱酒精小鼠酒精饮用的影响与通过超临界二氧化碳提取该草药制备的富含金丝桃素的提取物（45%金丝桃素）的影响进行了比较。显著降低10%乙醇摄入量所需的富含金丝桃素提取物的剂量（5mg/kg）比粗提取物所需剂量（625mg/kg）少125倍，且与产生类似效果所需的氟西汀剂量（10mg/kg）相当。这些药物均未显著影响水的摄入量。这些结果表明，贯叶连翘提取物对酒精饮用行为的影响是由于该草药中的金丝桃素含量，而非其他极性更强的成分。金丝桃素是一种不稳定的化合物，本研究还突出了不同提取制备方法对金丝桃素含量的影响。
