Da Yun-Meng, Niu Kai-Yu, Liu Shu-Ya, Wang Ke, Wang Wen-Juan, Jia Jing, Qin Li-Hua, Bai Wen-Pei
Department of Stomatology, General Hospital of Chinese People's Armed Police Forces, NO.69 of Yongding Road, Haidian District, Beijing, China.
Department of Stomatology, Hebei Provincial Eye Hospital, NO. 399 of Quannan East Street, Qiaodong District, Xingtai, Hebei, China.
Biol Res. 2017 Mar 14;50(1):11. doi: 10.1186/s40659-017-0115-x.
Cimicifuga racemosa is one of the herbs used for the treatment of climacteric syndrome, and it has been cited as an alternative therapy to estrogen. Apart from hectic fevers, dyspareunia and so on, dry mouth also increase significantly after menopause. It has not yet been reported whether C. racemosa has any impact on the sublingual gland, which may relate to dry mouth. In an attempt to determine this, we have compared the effects of estrogen and C. racemosa on the sublingual gland of ovariectomized rats.
HE staining showed that the acinar cell area had contracted and that the intercellular spaces were broadened in the OVX (ovariectomized rats) group, while treatment with estradiol (E2) and iCR (isopropanolic extract of C. racemosa) improved these lesions. Transmission electron microscopy showed that rough endoplasmic reticulum expansion in mucous and serous acinar epithelial cells and apoptotic cells was more commonly seen in the OVX group than in the SHAM (sham-operated rats) group. Mitochondria and plasma membrane infolding lesions in the striated ducts were also observed. These lesions were alleviated by both treatments. It is of note that, in the OVX + iCR group, the volume of mitochondria in the striated duct was larger than in other groups. Immunohistochemical staining showed that the ratio of caspase-3 positive cells was significantly increased in the acinar cells of the OVX group compared with the SHAM group (p < 0.05); and the MA (mean absorbance) of caspase-3 in the striated ducts also increased (p < 0.05). Estradiol decreased the ratio of caspase-3 positive cells and the MA of caspase-3 in striated ducts significantly (p < 0.05). ICR also reduced the ratio of caspase-3 positive cells and the MA in the striated ducts (p < 0.05), but the reduction of the MA in striated ducts was inferior to that of the OVX + E2 group (p < 0.05).
Both estradiol and iCR can inhibit subcellular structural damage, and down-regulate the expression of caspase-3 caused by ovariectomy, but their effects were not identical, suggesting that both drugs confer a protective effect on the sublingual gland of ovariectomized rats, but that the specific location and mechanism of action producing these effects were different.
升麻是用于治疗更年期综合征的草药之一，被视为雌激素的替代疗法。除潮热、性交困难等外，绝经后口干也显著增加。升麻对可能与口干有关的舌下腺是否有影响尚未见报道。为确定这一点，我们比较了雌激素和升麻对去卵巢大鼠舌下腺的作用。
苏木精-伊红（HE）染色显示，去卵巢（OVX）组腺泡细胞面积缩小，细胞间隙增宽，而雌二醇（E2）和升麻异丙醇提取物（iCR）处理改善了这些损伤。透射电子显微镜显示，OVX组黏液性和浆液性腺泡上皮细胞中粗面内质网扩张及凋亡细胞比假手术（SHAM）组更常见。还观察到纹状管中的线粒体和质膜内陷损伤。两种处理均减轻了这些损伤。值得注意的是，在OVX + iCR组中，纹状管中线粒体体积大于其他组。免疫组织化学染色显示，与SHAM组相比，OVX组腺泡细胞中半胱天冬酶-3阳性细胞比例显著增加（p < 0.05）；纹状管中半胱天冬酶-3的平均吸光度（MA）也增加（p < 0.05）。雌二醇显著降低了纹状管中半胱天冬酶-3阳性细胞比例和半胱天冬酶-3的MA（p < 0.05）。iCR也降低了纹状管中半胱天冬酶-3阳性细胞比例和MA（p < 0.05），但纹状管中MA的降低程度低于OVX + E2组（p < 0.05）。
雌二醇和iCR均可抑制亚细胞结构损伤，并下调去卵巢所致半胱天冬酶-3的表达，但二者作用不同，提示两种药物对去卵巢大鼠舌下腺均有保护作用，但产生这些作用的具体部位和作用机制不同。
