Effects of saikosaponin-d on enhanced CCl4-hepatotoxicity by phenobarbitone.

The effects of saikosaponin-d extracted from the roots of Buplerum falcatum L. on increased toxicity of CCl4 and increased activities of microsomal enzymes induced by phenobarbitone have been examined. Saikosaponin-d showed protection against the CCl4-hepatotoxicity enhanced by phenobarbitone. It also inhibited increases in the content of cytochrome P450 and NADPH-cytochrome c reductase activity, which are induced by the phenobarbitone treatment, but the spectral characteristics of P450 were not altered. The rate of microsomal lipid peroxidation by NADPH and CCl4 was significantly lowered in-vitro in rats pretreated with phenobarbitone and saikosaponin-d compared with those pretreated with phenobarbitone alone.