Beneficial effects of Cirsium japonicum var. maackii on menopausal symptoms in ovariectomized rats

Abstract

In women, menopause refers to a series of physiological and mental symptoms of distress that result from a decrease in 17β-estradiol. In addition to the loss of fertility, the symptoms include facial flushing, depression, osteoporosis, sexual dysfunction, and genitourinary atrophy. Cirsium japonicum var. maackii is a perennial herbaceous species found in the mountains and fields of Korea, China, and Japan. The medicinal uses of C. japonicum include antioxidant, antidiabetic, antitumor, antifungal, and anti-inflammatory activities. We investigated the effect of C. japonicum extract in a rat model of menopause that exhibited rapid estrogen decline induced by ovariectomy (OVX rats). The rats were treated with C. japonicum extract for 10 weeks and the following parameters were measured: food intake, feed efficiency, body weight, total cholesterol, triglyceride, LDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, liver weight, 17β-estradiol, uterus weight, AST, ALT, bone mineral density (BMD), bone alkaline phosphatase, calcitonin, and osteocalcin. In OVX rats, the administration of 50 and 100 mg kg-1C. japonicum extract significantly decreased body weight, total cholesterol, triglyceride, HDL-cholesterol, and LDL-cholesterol and significantly increased 17β-estradiol and BMD. During the light/dark box test, the C. japonicum treatment group (100 mg kg-1) spent more time in the light chamber than in the dark area, which was reflective of their diurnal nature. Using a molecular docking simulation, we predicted the plausible binding mode of the active compounds of C. japonicum with the ligand binding domain of estrogen receptor (ER)-α and ER-β. These results showed that C. japonicum extract can treat the symptoms before and after the menopause.

Effects of nicotine on markers of bone turnover in ovariectomized rats

“…The present finding showed that there's no significant different between Sham group and OVX in case of serum calcitonin level. The same finding was reported by Park [21] that in ovariectomized rats there was no significantly different serum calcitonin level compared to normal rats. But the trends of calcitonin level in this research shows increased calcitonin level along with increment of nicotine dose.…”

Lactobacillus‐fermented milk products attenuate bone loss in an experimental rat model of ovariectomy‐induced post‐menopausal primary osteoporosis

“…2016; Park et al . 2018). The increased adiposity in ovariectomized rats might be explained by the malfunction of the appetite‐controlling hormone leptin and oestrogen depletion as, normally, oestrogen participates in modulation of energy homeostasis by direct action on central appetite and energy‐regulating pathways (Torto et al .…”

“…2016; Park et al . 2018). The body weight of the rats started to increase from week 4 of the study and the appetite of the rats was affected since week 2 in all the ovariectomized groups, which indicated that depleted oestrogen levels could affect the body metabolism.…”

Simultaneous determination of methoxyflavones in selected Korean thistles

“…In our previous research works, we have shown that compounds 1 and 2 from CJM confer potential therapeutic effects against diabetes, as indicated by its strong inhibitory effects on the polyol pathway which is a major mechanism linked to the pathogenesis of diabetic complications [13,19]. Moreover, compounds 1-3 in CJM has also been reported to exhibit beneficial against menopausal symptoms in animal models [18]. Moreover, the results showed that although CJ and CJM belong to the same species, the two varieties showed distinct flavonoid contents in that all three methoxyflavones were present in CJM whereas 2 was absent in CJ.…”

“…maackii (CJM) [13,14]. These compounds have been shown to exhibit bioactive properties, and thus have pharmacological importance [15][16][17][18]. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to determine the distribution of these compounds and quantify their contents in selected Korean thistles by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with ultraviolet-visible detection.…”