PHARMACOLOGICAL ACTION OF EUCOMMIA ULMOIDES, OLIV.

Abstract

Eucommia ulmoides, Oliv. is a deciduous tree that grows wildly in Shu Chuan, Fu Pei Shêng, China. The medicinal portion are contained in the bark that has been dried after peeling, the thickness of the bark being 1 to 5 mm and of varying dimensions in size. The external surface is grey or dark grey in color, shows well marked longitudinal rugosity and cutaneous pores. The inner surface is smooth, dark violet in color, and the structure coarse. When broken into pieces white threads are produced.
According to Pen Ts'ao Kang Mu of Li Shih-Chên (1) Eucommia ulmoides, Oliv. is highly efficaceous in lumbago resulting from cold. It is comparatively recently that Eucommia ulmoides, Oliv. began to be used in Chinese medicine, and even in Pen Ts'ao Kang Mu its use is not widely taken up. However, in recent years, since Hsü Pang-Hsien (2) and Chang Chi-Yu (3) pointed out the efficacy of this drug in hypertension it has come to draw attention in China and at the Pharmaceutical Research Laboratory of the Chinese Science Academy (4) saponin and potassium sulphocyanide have been isolated from it. In Japan Minatodani and Ishiguro (5) have extracted gutta percha from the bark.
No investigations have yet been made regarding the pharmacological properties of Eucommia ulmoides, Oliv., and the present studies were undertaken, therefore, with this in mind.