Laboratory of Animal Physiology, Department of Animal Biology and Physiology, Faculty of Science, University of Yaounde I, P.O. Box 812, Yaounde, Cameroon; Department of Pharmacognosy, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, A-1090 Vienna, Austria.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2013 Oct 28;150(1):298-307. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2013.08.050. Epub 2013 Sep 5.
Eriosema laurentii De Wild (Leguminosae) is a medicinal plant used in West and Central Africa for different diseases. In Cameroon, this plant is used as a treatment for infertility, and various gynecological and menopausal complaints. However, despite this use as a natural remedy, the biological activity of Eriosema laurentii has not been studied until now.
In order to determine the potential use of this plant in gynecological conditions/disorders, we evaluated the estrogenic properties of a methanol extract of its aerial parts and its ability to prevent different menopausal health problems induced by bilateral oophorectomy.
Two approaches were used. In vitro, recombinant yeast systems were applied, featuring either the respective human receptors (ERα, AR, and PR) or into chromosome III integrated human aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) and the respective reporter plasmid. In vivo, the investigation was carried out using the 3 days uterotrophic assay and 9 weeks oral treatment in ovariectomized rats.
The results showed that the methanol extract of the aerial parts of Eriosema laurentii transactivated the estrogen receptor-α and displayed AhR agonistic activity but was neither androgenic nor progesteronic. In rats, the extract did not induce endometrium proliferation either in the 3-day or the 9-week treatment regimens, but induced vaginal stratification and cornification, prevented loss of femur bone mass, increased high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and reduced total cholesterol (TC), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), TC/HDL-C ratio, LDL-C/HDL-C ratio and the atherogenic index of plasma (AIP).
These results suggest that the methanol extract of the aerial parts of Eriosema laurentii does not seem to have an undesirable influence on the endometrium but might prevent vaginal dryness and bone mass loss and improve the lipid profile.
Laurent 山黧豆（豆科）是一种药用植物，在西非和中非用于治疗各种疾病。在喀麦隆，这种植物被用于治疗不孕不育以及各种妇科和更年期疾病。然而，尽管这种植物被用作天然药物，但直到现在，Laurent 山黧豆的生物活性还没有被研究过。
为了确定这种植物在妇科疾病中的潜在用途，我们评估了其地上部分甲醇提取物的雌激素特性及其预防双侧卵巢切除引起的不同更年期健康问题的能力。
使用了两种方法。体外，应用了包含相应人类受体（ERα、AR 和 PR）的重组酵母系统，或整合到染色体 III 中的人类芳香烃受体（AhR）及其相应报告质粒。体内，使用 3 天子宫增重试验和 9 周卵巢切除大鼠口服治疗进行研究。
结果表明，Laurent 山黧豆地上部分甲醇提取物可激活雌激素受体-α并表现出 AhR 激动活性，但既没有雄激素也没有孕激素活性。在大鼠中，该提取物无论是在 3 天还是 9 周的治疗方案中，都不会引起子宫内膜增生，但会诱导阴道分层和角化，防止股骨骨量丢失，增加高密度脂蛋白胆固醇（HDL-C），降低总胆固醇（TC）、低密度脂蛋白胆固醇（LDL-C）、TC/HDL-C 比值、LDL-C/HDL-C 比值和血浆致动脉粥样硬化指数（AIP）。
这些结果表明，Laurent 山黧豆地上部分甲醇提取物似乎不会对子宫内膜产生不良影响，但可能预防阴道干燥和骨量丢失，并改善血脂谱。
