Assessment of the Pharmacological Activity of Aesculus hippocastanum L. Polysaccharides

This article reports studies of the biological activity of polysaccharides from aqueous and alkaline fractions isolated from the seed coats of the common horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum L.). The polysaccharides studied here were found to belong to class V, essentially non-toxic substances, as the LD50 was greater than 2000 mg/kg. Studies of hepatoprotective activity in mice showed that intragastric administration of polysaccharides at a dose of 25 mg/kg gave a total coefficient of hepatoprotective activity, in terms of survival, life expectancy, liver weight coefficient, and body weight, of 0.931. The polysaccharides of the aqueous fraction used at a dose of 25 mg/kg had high hepatoprotective activity, while the same dose of polysaccharides from the alkaline fraction had moderate hepatoprotective activity. While liver enzyme (alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and alkaline phosphatase (AP)) activities increased significantly in the control group of animals as compared with intact animals, by factors of 1.5 and 2.0, levels in the experimental groups approached normal i.e., test substances significantly reduced the activities of markers of cytolytic syndrome (ALT, AST) and cholestasis (AP).

Automated summary

This study reports on the biological activity of polysaccharides extracted from the seed coats of horse chestnut. The polysaccharides showed high hepatoprotective activity and significantly reduced the activity of markers of cytolytic syndrome and cholestasis.