Abstract
BackgroundThe prevalence and risk of cardiovascular disease increase after menopause in correlation with the progression of abnormality in the serum lipid profile and the deprivation of estrogen. Erxian decoction (EXD), a Chinese medicinal formulation for treating menopausal syndrome, stimulates ovarian estrogen biosynthesis. This study investigates whether EXD improves the serum lipid profile in a menopausal rat model.MethodsTwenty-month-old female Sprague Dawley rats were treated with EXD and its constituent fractions. Premarin was administered for comparison. After eight weeks of treatment, rats were sacrificed and the serum levels of total cholesterol, triglyceride, high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol and low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol were determined. The hepatic protein levels of 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-CoA reductase and low-density-lipoprotein receptor were assessed with Western blot.ResultsThe serum levels of total cholesterol and low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol were significantly lower in the EXD-treated group than in the constituent fractions of EXD or premarin groups. However, the serum levels of triglyceride and high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol were not significantly different from the control groups. Results from Western blot suggest that EXD significantly down-regulated the protein level of 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-CoA reductase and up-regulated low-density-lipoprotein receptor. Conclusion EXD improves serum lipid profile in a menopausal rat model through the suppression of the serum levels of total cholesterol and low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol, possibly through the down-regulation of the 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-CoA and up-regulation of the low-density-lipoprotein receptor.
Highlights
The prevalence and risk of cardiovascular disease increase after menopause in correlation with the progression of abnormality in the serum lipid profile and the deprivation of estrogen
Quality control To explore most of the detectable peaks in the HPLC chromatogram, we investigated the spectra of all eluted peaks found in the chromatogram of Erxian decoction (EXD) and its fractions using photodiode array detection
Interassay relative standard deviation (RSD) values were less than 5% for all standards
Summary
The prevalence and risk of cardiovascular disease increase after menopause in correlation with the progression of abnormality in the serum lipid profile and the deprivation of estrogen. Erxian decoction (EXD), a Chinese medicinal formulation for treating menopausal syndrome, stimulates ovarian estrogen biosynthesis. This study investigates whether EXD improves the serum lipid profile in a menopausal rat model. Administration of Erxian decoction (EXD), consisting of Curculigo orchioides (Xianmao), Epimedium brevicornum (Yinyanghuo), Morinda officinalis (Bajitian), Angelica sinensis (Danggui), Phellodendron chinense (Huangbo) and Anemarrhena asphodeloides (Zhimu), has long been used in Chinese medicine to relieve menopausal symptoms [6]. Based on the estrogenic effect of EXD and the hypolipidemic effects of its constituent compounds, we would like to know whether EXD is able to improve the lipid profile in an well-established menopausal rat model [10]
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