• T Akao, Q M Che, K Kobashi, M Hattori, and T Namba.
• Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Toyama Medical and Pharmaceutical University, Japan.
• Biol. Pharm. Bull. 1996 Jan 1; 19 (1): 136-8.

AbstractOrally administered barbaloin (100 mg/kg) did not induce any diarrhea in male Wistar rats, in spite of severe diarrhea with sennoside B (40 mg/kg). Also, in gnotobiote rats mono-associated with Peptostreptococcus intermedius, a human intestinal anaerobe capable of reducing sennidins to rhein anthrone, barbaloin did not induce diarrhea; the faecal water content (71.9%) 8 h after the administration of barbaloin was not increased, compared with that (73.9%) just before the treatment. However, severe diarrhea was induced with barbaloin in gnotobiote rats mono-associated with Eubacterium sp. strain BAR, another human intestinal anaerobe capable of transforming barbaloin to aloe-emodin anthrone; the faecal water content was significantly increased to 85.5% 8 h after the administration, from 73.2% before the treatment. At this time, barbaloin was transformed to aloe-emodin anthrone in the feces from the gnotobiote rats mono-associated with the strain BAR, but not in feces from the conventional rats or the gnotobiote rats mono-associated with P. intermedius. These facts indicate that barbaloin is inactive as a laxative itself but is activated to aloe-emodin anthrone, a genuine purgative component, by Eubacterium sp. strain BAR.

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