Njamen Dieudonné, Djiogue Sefirin, Zingue Stephane, Mvondo Marie Alfrede, Nkeh-Chungag Benedicta N
Department of AnimalBiology and Physiology, Faculty of Science, University of Yaounde 1, Yaounde, Cameroon.
J Complement Integr Med. 2013 Aug 22;10:/j/jcim.2013.10.issue-1/jcim-2013-0018/jcim-2013-0018.xml. doi: 10.1515/jcim-2013-0018.
In developing countries, around 80% of the population still resorts on traditional medicine for their primary health care. Erythrina poeppigiana (Walp.) O.F. Cook, one of these medicinal plants, was found to be particularly rich in isoflavonoids which exhibited, individually, significant estrogenic activity in vitro. The possible combined effects of these bioactive isoflavones, as they are naturally found in the crude extracts of E. poeppigiana, prompted us to assess their in vivo estrogenicity. We first tested the ability of the extracts to transactivate estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) in vitro using U2OS human osteosarcoma cells. We next investigated their effects in vivo in an uterotrophic assay, using ovariectomized rats treated with the extracts at the doses of 50, 100, 200, and 400 mg/kg BW/d orally for 3 days. Finally, we assessed their ability to relieve hot flushes, using data loggers. At the end of treatments, animals were sacrificed, and organs (mammary glands, vagina, and uteri) were collected for histo-morphometric analyses. The methanol extract significantly and dose-dependently transactivated ERα at all tested doses. All extracts induced significant increases of vaginal and uterine epithelial heights. Only the dichloromethane extract could significantly relieve hot flushes as estradiol. These results indicate that E. poeppigiana extracts have estrogen-like effects in vivo, suggesting that its active principles act in synergy when they are taken in combination in the crude extract. These findings, therefore, support the traditional use of E. poeppigiana to alleviate some menopausal problems; our previous phytochemical investigations contribute to the standardization of this phytomedicine.
在发展中国家，约80%的人口仍依赖传统医学进行初级卫生保健。刺桐（Erythrina poeppigiana (Walp.) O.F. Cook）就是其中一种药用植物，已发现其富含异黄酮，这些异黄酮单独在体外表现出显著的雌激素活性。这些生物活性异黄酮在刺桐粗提物中天然存在时可能产生的联合效应，促使我们评估它们在体内的雌激素活性。我们首先使用U2OS人骨肉瘤细胞在体外测试提取物激活雌激素受体α（ERα）的能力。接下来，我们在子宫增重试验中研究它们在体内的作用，使用卵巢切除的大鼠，以50、100、200和400 mg/kg体重/天的剂量口服提取物，持续3天。最后，我们使用数据记录器评估它们缓解潮热的能力。在治疗结束时，处死动物，并收集器官（乳腺、阴道和子宫）进行组织形态计量分析。甲醇提取物在所有测试剂量下均能显著且剂量依赖性地激活ERα。所有提取物均能显著增加阴道和子宫上皮高度。只有二氯甲烷提取物能像雌二醇一样显著缓解潮热。这些结果表明，刺桐提取物在体内具有雌激素样作用，表明其活性成分在粗提物中联合使用时具有协同作用。因此，这些发现支持了刺桐在传统医学中用于缓解一些更年期问题的用途；我们之前的植物化学研究有助于这种植物药的标准化。
