Comparative study on the accelerative effect of "koushikon" and "nanshikon" and their constituents on proliferation of granuloma tissue in rats.

This study was carried out to compare the accelerative effect in ether extracts of "Koushikon" and "Nanshikon" on proliferation of granuloma tissue in rats, and to elucidate this effect on optical isomer of naphthoquinone derivatives in those extracts. The content of total naphthoquinone derivatives in the ether extracts of Koushikon and Nanshikon were found to be 56.1% and 25.4%. Among naphthoquinone derivatives, Koushikon contained mostly acetyl derivative and Nanshikon mostly teracryl derivative. The percentage of R-type (shikonin-type) in total naphthoquinone derivatives of the extracts was 85.5% and 3.8%. Each ether extract showed a dose-dependent acceleration on the cotton pellet-induced granuloma formation. Comparison with corresponding doses containing the same quantity of naphthoquinone derivatives showed the accelerative potency of ether extracts of Koushikon and Nanshikon to be about the same. The result suggests that the accelerative effect on proliferation of granuloma tissue depends primarily on the total content of naphthoquinone derivatives, and not on the ratio of the optically active isomers.