Abstract
Postmenopausal osteoporosis can be associated with oxidative stress and deterioration of antioxidant enzymes. It is mainly treated with estrogen replacement therapy (ERT). Although effective, ERT may cause adverse effects such as breast cancer and pulmonary embolism. Labisia pumila var. alata (LP), a herb used traditionally for women’s health was found to protect against estrogen-deficient osteoporosis. An extensive study was conducted in a postmenopausal osteoporosis rat model using several LP doses and duration of treatments to determine if anti-oxidative mechanisms were involved in its bone protective effects. Ninety-six female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into six groups; baseline group (BL), sham-operated (Sham), ovariectomised control (OVXC), ovariectomised (OVX) and given 64.5 μg/kg of Premarin (ERT), ovariectomised and given 20 mg/kg of LP (LP20) and ovariectomised and given 100 mg/kg of LP (LP100). The groups were further subdivided to receive their respective treatments via daily oral gavages for three, six or nine weeks of treatment periods. Following euthanization, the femora were dissected out for bone oxidative measurements which include superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels. Results: The SOD levels of the sham-operated and all the treatment groups were significantly higher than the OVX groups at all treatment periods. The GPx level of ERT and LP100 groups at the 9th week of treatment were significantly higher than the baseline and OVX groups. MDA level of the OVX group was significantly higher than all the other groups at weeks 6 and 9. The LP20 and LP100 groups at the 9th week of treatment had significantly lower MDA levels than the ERT group. There were no significant differences between LP20 and LP100 for all parameters. Thus, LP supplementations at both doses, which showed the best results at 9 weeks, may reduce oxidative stress which in turn may prevent bone loss via its anti-oxidative property.
Highlights
Osteoporosis has been associated with many factors primarily aging and hormonal disturbances which mainly affects women
Labisia pumila var. alata (LP) supplementations at both doses, which showed the best results at 9 weeks, may reduce oxidative stress which in turn may prevent bone loss via its anti-oxidative property
superoxide dismutase (SOD) level of the Labisia pumila at 20 mg/kg (LP20) at 6th week was significantly higher than the SHAM and estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) groups, it exhibited the best result compared to the other groups (Figure 1)
Summary
At the 3rd, 6th and 9th weeks all the groups showed significantly higher SOD level than the OVX group (p < 0.05). The. SOD level of the LP20 at 6th week was significantly higher than the SHAM and ERT groups, it exhibited the best result compared to the other groups (Figure 1). The ERT and LP100 groups at the 9th week showed higher GPx level than the BL and OVX groups (Figure 2). All the groups at the 6th and 9th weeks showed significantly lower MDA levels compared to the OVX group. The LP20 group at the 6th week had a significantly lower MDA level than the SHAM and ERT groups. LP20 and LP100 at the 9th week had significantly lower MDA levels compared to the ERT group (Figure 3)
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