Experimental pharmacological study of three species from genus Salvia

Fifteen extracts isolated from three species of genus Salvia were studied: two from Salvia officinalis, seven from Salvia triloba and six from Salvia verbenaca. Their effects on the blood pressure of cats and spontaneously hypertensive rats were examined. The smooth-muscle effects of the extracts were studied on isolated segments of guinea-pig ileum. The effects of some of the extracts on hexobarbital anaesthesia were investigated. Applied intravenously and duodenally, aqueous-alcohol extract of Salvia officinalis causes moderate but prolonged lowering of the blood pressure in cats. Decoction of Salvia triloba also possesses a similar effect (in experiments on spontaneously hypertensive rats). Most of the extracts isolated from Salvia officinalis and Salvia triloba inhibit to various degrees smooth-muscle contractions induced by acetylcholine, histamine, serotonin and BaCl2, whereas extracts of Salvia verbenaca usually potentiate them. Substances isolated from Salvia triloba prolong hexobarbital sleep. Future studies of substances isolated from Salvia officinalis and Salvia triloba are promising with a view to their spasmolytic and hypotensive actions. There exist marked interspecies differences in the pharmacological effects of biologically active substances isolated from genus Salvia.