Crude extracts of Ruta chalepensis and R . chalepensis var. rcrtifolia showed antifertility activity in female rats. In order to establish the active constituents which may be responsible for this effect, a group of selected coumarins and alkaloids were tested in vivo. Although chalepensin, bergaptol, chalepin and xanthatoxin showed antifertility activity, 70% of the test animals developed cystic and atretic follicles in their ovaries and glomerulocapsular adhesion and segmental fusion was observed in the kidneys. No harmful effect was observed in the brain. Alkaloids in this study showed no antifertility activity.
In a timed study over 75 min, divided into 5 15-min periods, experimental perfusions of isolated rat kidneys using Krebs-Ringer bicarbonate (KRB) containing 3.5% (uncrosslinked) stroma-free hemoglobin (SFH) plus 3.5% of the perfluorochemical Fluosol-DA were found to excrete only 13% as much total hemoglobin (Hb) as control perfusions using KRB containing 7% SFH alone (controls). The glomerular filtration rate was the same for experimentals and controls in 3 periods, and slightly higher in the experimentals in 2 periods. However, urine flow was found to be significantly decreased in all 5 periods for the experimentals relative to the controls. These effects can be explained by reabsorption of glomerular filtrate containing Hb by endocytosis of renal tubular cells.
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