School of Nutrition and Health Sciences, College of Nutrition, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11031, Taiwan.
Institute of Food Science and Technology, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan.
Molecules. 2019 Apr 19;24(8):1556. doi: 10.3390/molecules24081556.
Uterine leiomyomas, also known as fibroids, are benign neoplasms of the uterus and have a high incidence rate in women of reproductive age. Hysterectomy or myomectomy is the initial treatment, but fibroids will recur if the patient is still exposed to similar risk factors. Therefore, developing new therapeutic strategies are urgently necessary. In this study, the anti-proliferation effects of each fraction of adlay seeds were evaluated in uterine leiomyomas, and we identified the potential phytochemical compounds. We found that the ethyl acetate fraction of adlay hull (AHE-ea) appeared to be highly efficient in the anti-proliferation of rat uterine leiomyoma ELT3 cells and primary human uterine leiomyoma (hUL) cells. The proliferation of primary human normal uterine smooth muscle (UtSMC) and normal uterine myometrial (hUM) cells were also suppressed by AHE-ea. Two phytosterols, stigmasterol and β-sitosterol, were identified from AHE-ea fraction. Mice treated with AHE-ea and stigmasterol alone demonstrated reduced diethylstilbestrol/medroxyprogesterone 17-acetate (DES/MPA)-induced uterine myometrial hyperplasia, which is the critical step for the development of leiomyoma. Taken together, our results suggest that the AHE-ea fraction could be considered as a natural plant-based medicine in the prevention or treatment of uterine leiomyoma growth.
子宫肌瘤，又称纤维瘤，是一种常见的子宫良性肿瘤，在育龄妇女中的发病率较高。子宫切除术或肌瘤切除术是最初的治疗方法，但如果患者仍暴露于类似的危险因素中，肌瘤会复发。因此，迫切需要开发新的治疗策略。在这项研究中，评估了薏苡种子各馏分对子宫肌瘤的抗增殖作用，并鉴定了潜在的植物化学化合物。我们发现，薏苡种皮的乙酸乙酯馏分（AHE-ea）似乎对大鼠子宫肌瘤 ELT3 细胞和原代人子宫肌瘤（hUL）细胞的增殖具有高效性。AHE-ea 还抑制原代人正常子宫平滑肌（UtSMC）和正常子宫平滑肌（hUM）细胞的增殖。从 AHE-ea 馏分中鉴定出两种植物甾醇，即豆甾醇和β-谷甾醇。单独用 AHE-ea 和豆甾醇处理的小鼠显示出二乙基己烯雌酚/醋酸甲羟孕酮 17-酯（DES/MPA）诱导的子宫肌层增生减少，这是子宫肌瘤发展的关键步骤。综上所述，我们的研究结果表明，AHE-ea 馏分可被视为一种天然植物药，用于预防或治疗子宫肌瘤生长。
