Zang Zhi Jun, Ji Su Yun, Dong Wang, Zhang Ya Nan, Zhang Er Hong, Bin Zhang
Department of Infertility and Sexual Medicine, The Third Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University , Guangzhou , People's Republic of China .
Aging Male. 2015 Jun;18(2):106-11. doi: 10.3109/13685538.2014.963042. Epub 2014 Sep 26.
Late-onset hypogonadism (LOH) is a clinical syndrome characterized with aging and declined serum testosterone levels. Sexual symptoms are also essential for the diagnosis of LOH. Testosterone replacement therapy is used widely to treat LOH. However, the side effects of it should not be ignored, such as fluid retention, hypertension and spermatogenic suppression. Therefore, alternate treatment modalities have been pursued. Herbal medicines used widely in China have achieved satisfying results with little side effects. Nonetheless, there are few pharmacological researches on them. In this study, 24-month-old mice were used as LOH animal models to explore the pharmacological effects of a herbal medicine, saikokaryukotsuboreito (SKRBT), on serum testosterone levels and sexual functions. Furthermore, the expression of steroidogenic acute regulatory (StAR) protein, a kind of rate-limiting enzyme of testosterone synthesis, was also examined. As a result, SKRBT improved the serum testosterone levels of these mice at a dose of 300 and 450 mg/kg. Multiple measures of sexual behavior were enhanced. The expression of StAR was also increased. Therefore, this study suggested that SKRBT can improve the serum testosterone levels by activating the expression of StAR and might be a viable option to treat sexual symptoms caused by LOH.
迟发性性腺功能减退（LOH）是一种随着年龄增长和血清睾酮水平下降而出现的临床综合征。性症状对于LOH的诊断也至关重要。睾酮替代疗法被广泛用于治疗LOH。然而，其副作用不容忽视，如液体潴留、高血压和生精抑制。因此，人们一直在寻求替代治疗方法。在中国广泛使用的草药取得了令人满意的效果且副作用很小。尽管如此，对它们的药理研究却很少。在本研究中，将24月龄小鼠用作LOH动物模型，以探讨一种草药柴胡龙骨牡蛎汤（SKRBT）对血清睾酮水平和性功能的药理作用。此外，还检测了睾酮合成的一种限速酶——类固醇生成急性调节（StAR）蛋白的表达。结果，SKRBT以300和450mg/kg的剂量提高了这些小鼠的血清睾酮水平。多种性行为指标得到增强。StAR的表达也增加了。因此，本研究表明，SKRBT可通过激活StAR的表达来提高血清睾酮水平，可能是治疗由LOH引起的性症状的一种可行选择。
