Spasmolytische wirkung des isoasaronfreien kalmus1.
ACORUS CALAMUS yields different drug types with varying content of beta-asarone, a substance which proved to be carcinogetic in rats. We tested essential oils with different beta-asarone content for their activity against histatnine-spasms in the isolated guinea pig ileum. At a dose level of 10 microg/cm (3), the beta-asarone-free oil (type I) had a pronounced, spasmolytic activity which was comparable to that of the antihistaminic drug pyrilaminemaleate used as a standard antagonist (4 microg/cm (3). Each of these drugs changed the EC (50) for histamine from 29 microg/cm (3) to 118 microg/cm (3) approximately. At a dose level of 10 microg/cm (3) the beta-asarone-rich oil (type IV) showed no spasmolytic activity at all. The essential oil of the european calamus with low content of beta-asarone (type II) had also a good spasmolytic effect, however inferior to that of the beta-asarone-free oil, so that the above cited decrease of the EC (50) value of histamine could be seen in a concentration of 32 microg/cm (3). For this reasons and for better drug-safety, only the rhizomas of the beta-asarone-free diploid or of the triploid calamus with low content of beta-asarone should be used.
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Retzgrubenweg 12, D-5500 Trier, W. Germany.
Odenthal
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Leng-Peschlow
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