Department of Food and Nutrition/Research Institute of Human Ecology, Mokpo National University, 1666 Youngsan-ro, Muan, Jeonnam 534-729, Korea.
Department of Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 702-701, Korea.
Nutr Res Pract. 2014 Jun;8(3):292-6. doi: 10.4162/nrp.2014.8.3.292. Epub 2014 May 15.
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted to assess the potential of St. John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum) to prevent obesity and abnormalities in lipid metabolism induced by ovariectomy in a rat model without stimulatory activity on uterus.
MATERIALS/METHODS: Ovariectomized (OVX) rats were treated for 6 weeks with 70% ethanol extracts of Hypericum perforatum [HPEs: whole plant (WHPE) and flower and leaves (FLHPE)], β-estradiol-3-benzoate at a dose of 50 µg/kg/day (E2) or vehicle (distilled water).
As expected, OVX increased body weight gain and adiposity and showed higher food efficacy ratio. OVX also increased the serum cholesterol as well as insulin resistance, while reducing uterus weight and uterine epithelial proliferation rate. HPEs (WHPE and FLHPE) showed estrogen-like effect on body weight gain, adipose tissue weight and food efficacy ratio in OVX rats. HPEs prevented hypercholesterolemia induced by OVX more effectively than E2. E2 increased uterus weight and epithelial proliferation rate in OVX rats, while HPEs maintained them at the level of the sham-operated animals.
Our finding demonstrates that HPEs can be considered as an effective agent to prevent OVX-induced obesity without stimulatory activity on uterus.
背景/目的：本研究旨在评估贯叶金丝桃（贯叶连翘）预防去卵巢肥胖和脂代谢异常的潜力，同时对子宫没有刺激作用。
材料/方法：用贯叶金丝桃 70%乙醇提取物[全草（WHPE）和花与叶（FLHPE）]、β-雌二醇-3-苯甲酸酯（50μg/kg/天，E2）或溶剂（蒸馏水）对去卵巢大鼠治疗 6 周。
正如预期的那样，去卵巢增加了体重增加和肥胖，并显示出更高的食物效率比。去卵巢还增加了血清胆固醇和胰岛素抵抗，同时降低了子宫重量和子宫上皮细胞增殖率。HPEs（WHPE 和 FLHPE）对去卵巢大鼠的体重增加、脂肪组织重量和食物效率比表现出类似雌激素的作用。HPEs 比 E2 更有效地预防去卵巢引起的高胆固醇血症。E2 增加了去卵巢大鼠的子宫重量和上皮细胞增殖率，而 HPEs 使它们保持在假手术动物的水平。
我们的发现表明，HPEs 可被视为一种有效的预防去卵巢引起肥胖的药物，同时对子宫没有刺激作用。
