Abstract
BackgroundEach year 1.5 million women experience menopause when menstrual cycles cease resulting from the loss of ovarian function and oestrogen deprivation, a hormone that helps prevent bone loss. This study investigated the effects of Physta®, a standardized herbal extract of Eurycoma longifolia Jack (PEL), on hormonal balance and parameters associated with hormonal imbalance, namely body and uterus weight and bone biochemical markers relevant in menopausal symptoms.MethodsForty-eight Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into six groups of eight rats each: (A) Sham operated; control (B) Untreated (ovariectomised (OVX) with vehicle), (C) PEL 100 (OVX + 100 mg/kg body weight (bw)), (D) PEL 300 (OVX + 300 mg/kg bw), (E) PEL 500 (OVX + 500 mg/kg bw) and (F) Positive control, testosterone undecanoate (TU) (OVX+ 10 mg/kg bw). Group A and B received daily oral administrations of the vehicle, Group C-E received daily oral administration of PEL and Group F received testosterone undecanoate intramuscularly weekly. At the end of 8 weeks, serum calcium, phosphate, bone alkaline phosphatase (BALP), osteocalcin, follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinising hormone (LH), oestrogen, progesterone and testosterone were measured, then the animals were sacrificed and uterus was isolated, while weight was recorded in all experimental groups.ResultsTreatment of OVX rats with PEL at a dose of 500 mg/kg showed decreased serum FSH (P < 0.001, 4.25 ± 0.22 mIU/ml) and LH (NS, 4.07 ± 0.12 mIU/ml), while there was a significant increase in progesterone (P < 0.05, 2.48 ± 0.08 ng/ml) and oestrogen (P < 0.05, 11.02 ± 0.13 pg/ml) levels when compared to untreated group. PEL treatment at doses of 100 mg/kg, 300 mg/kg and 500 mg/kg showed a non-significant but increasing trend in serum calcium, phosphate, bone alkaline phosphate and testosterone levels. Ovariectomy resulted in a significant reduction (P < 0.001, 238.81 ± 5.39 mg) in uterus weight in the ovariectomised rats, which was alleviated in all PEL treated ovariectomised rats with an increasing trend of uterine weight.ConclusionThe results suggest that PEL could be protective and beneficial for the management of reproductive hormone and bone markers. Therefore, it could be used to address hormonal imbalances and symptoms associated with menopause.
Highlights
Each year 1.5 million women experience menopause when menstrual cycles cease resulting from the loss of ovarian function and oestrogen deprivation, a hormone that helps prevent bone loss
Collection and preparation of plant extract Eurycoma longifolia Jack (ELJ) extract used in the study was commercially available from Biotropics Malaysia under the trade name of Physta®, Physta® Eurycoma longifolia (PEL) extract from batch number TA 170750 was used in this study
The increase in body weight from the start of the study to 8 weeks was inhibited in PEL treated groups in a dose dependent manner
Summary
Each year 1.5 million women experience menopause when menstrual cycles cease resulting from the loss of ovarian function and oestrogen deprivation, a hormone that helps prevent bone loss. Menopause is a biological stage in a woman’s life when menstrual cycles cease resulting from the loss of ovarian function and oestrogen deprivation, a hormone that helps prevent bone loss [2, 3]. Ovariectomy is one of the most common surgical operations in women throughout the world, and is associated with an increased rate in bone resorption outweighing the increased rate of bone formation. This leads to osteoporosis [8]. Stimulation of osteoblast differentiation has been suggested to be an important therapeutic approach for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis [11]
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