ABSTRACT
Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix (Salvia miltiorrhiza BUNGE) is a galenical drug used to treat disturbances of the vascular system; it is widely employed in China to improve blood flow and dilate blood vessels (Wang et al., 1978; Microcirculation Research Group, 1978; Onitsuka et al., 1983; Chen, 1984). It has been reported that this drug contains naphthoquinone (phenanthrene quinone) derivatives such as tanshi none I, tanshinone II-A, tanshinone II-B, cryptotanshinone, isotanshinone I, isotan shinone II, isocryptotanshinone, tanshinonic acid, hydroxytanshinone and miltirone as active components (Kakisawa et al., 1968; Inouye and Kakisawa, 1969; Kakisawa et al., 1969; Shibata et al., 1982).
