Molecular Pharmacology, Department of Biofunctional Evaluation, Gifu Pharmaceutical University, Gifu 501-1196, Japan.
BMC Complement Altern Med. 2010 Nov 15;10:68. doi: 10.1186/1472-6882-10-68.
Agarwood (Aquilaria sinensis), well known as incense in Southeast Asia, has been used as a digestive in traditional medicine. We investigated the laxative effects of an ethanol extract of agarwood leaves (EEA) in a rat model of low-fiber diet-induced constipation.
A set of rats was bred on a normal diet while another set was placed on a low-fiber diet to induce constipation. The laxative effect of agarwood was then investigated on both sets of rats.
Pretreatment of normal rats with single dose of EEA (600 mg/kg, p.o.) significantly increased frequency and weight of stools. Also, treatments with EEA (300 and 600 mg/kg, p.o.) for 14 days caused a significant increase in stool frequency and weight. Feeding of the animals with a low-fiber diet resulted in a decrease in stool weight, frequency, and water content and also delayed carmine egestion. A single treatment with EEA (600 mg/kg) or senna (150 and 300 mg/kg) significantly increased stool frequency, weight, and water content and also accelerated carmine egestion in the model rats. Once daily administrations of EEA (150 mg/kg), for 14 days, caused a significant increase in water content of stools. The higher doses of EEA (300 and 600 mg/kg) significantly increased frequency, weight, and water content of the stools while accelerating carmine egestion in the constipated rats. Senna (150 and 300 mg/kg) produced similar effect as the higher doses of EEA but, in addition, induced severe diarrhea.
These findings indicate that EEA has a laxative effect, without causing diarrhea, in a rat model of low-fiber diet-induced constipation. These findings suggest that EEA may be highly effective on constipation as a complementary medicine in humans suffering from life style-induced constipation.
沉香（Aquilaria sinensis），在东南亚被称为香，在传统医学中被用作助消化药。我们研究了沉香叶乙醇提取物（EEA）在低纤维饮食诱导的便秘大鼠模型中的通便作用。
一组大鼠在正常饮食中饲养，另一组大鼠置于低纤维饮食中以诱导便秘。然后在这两组大鼠中研究沉香的通便作用。
单次给予正常大鼠 EEA（600mg/kg，po）预处理可显著增加粪便频率和重量。此外，EEA（300 和 600mg/kg，po）治疗 14 天可显著增加粪便频率和重量。给予低纤维饮食的动物粪便重量、频率和含水量降低，且胭脂红排出时间延长。单次给予 EEA（600mg/kg）或番泻叶（150 和 300mg/kg）可显著增加模型大鼠的粪便频率、重量和含水量，并加速胭脂红排出。EEA（150mg/kg）每天一次，连续 14 天，可显著增加粪便含水量。EEA 的较高剂量（300 和 600mg/kg）可显著增加便秘大鼠的粪便频率、重量和含水量，并加速胭脂红排出。番泻叶（150 和 300mg/kg）产生与 EEA 较高剂量相似的作用，但此外，还引起严重腹泻。
这些发现表明，EEA 在低纤维饮食诱导的便秘大鼠模型中具有通便作用而不引起腹泻。这些发现表明，EEA 可能对生活方式引起的便秘患者作为补充药物非常有效。
