Pharmacotherapy. 2001 Jul; 21(7): 773-7.

An evaluation of the hemostatic effects of hydrophilic, alcohol, and lipophilic extracts of notoginseng.

White CM, Fan C, Song J, Tsikouris JP, Chow M.

Department of Pharmacy, Hartford Hospital, Connecticut, 06102-5037, USA. cmwhite@harthosp.org

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To compare the hemostatic effects of hydrophilic, alcohol, or lipophilic extract of notoginseng with those of the control and placebo. DESIGN: Hemorrhagic rat model. SETTING: Hartford Hospital, Hartford, Connecticut; animals were housed at the Hartford Hospital animal facility. ANIMALS: Sixty-two male Wistar rats. Intervention. Administration of placebo (wheat flour), and alcohol, hydrophilic (water), and lipophilic (hexane) extracts of notoginseng. METHODS: Rats were divided into five groups, and their tails were transected 5 mm from the tip. Group 1 received no treatment (control), group 2 received placebo, group 3 received alcohol extract, group 4 received hydrophilic extract, and group 5 received lipophilic extract. Total bleeding time was determined and compared among the groups. MAIN RESULTS: Bleeding time was shorter for the placebo group than the control group (p=0.035). The alcohol extract group had the shortest bleeding time, which was significantly shorter than that of the control (p<0.0001), placebo (p=0.0124), and lipophilic extract groups (p=0.002). The hydrophilic extract group had a shorter bleeding time than the control group (p=0.0058) and showed a trend toward shorter bleeding time than the lipophilic extract group (p=0.068). CONCLUSIONS: The alcohol extract of notoginseng results in the shortest bleeding time and provides better hemostatic effects than no treatment, placebo treatment, and treatment with lipophilic extract.