Estrogenic Effects of a Kampo Formula, Tokishakuyakusan, in Parous Ovariectomized Rats

Female hormone-dependent cancers and other diseases pose a serious health threat for women, and low-risk medicines against such cancers have not yet been discovered. The present study examines the effects of the traditional Chinese herbal mixture, Tokishakuyakusan (TS) and 17β-estradiol on the uteru...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biological & Pharmaceutical Bulletin 2008/06/01, Vol.31(6), pp.1145-1149
Main Authors: Chung, Mi Hwa, Suzuki, Sawako, Nishihara, Tsutomu, Hattori, Masao
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Aquaporin 2 - biosynthesis
beta-Galactosidase - biosynthesis
Drugs, Chinese Herbal - pharmacology
Estradiol - blood
estrogen
Estrogens, Non-Steroidal
Female
Immunohistochemistry
Kampo formula
Medicine, Kampo
Organ Size - drug effects
Ovariectomy
parous ovariectomized rat
Progesterone - blood
Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos - biosynthesis
Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-jun - biosynthesis
Rats
Rats, Wistar
Saccharomyces cerevisiae - drug effects
Saccharomyces cerevisiae - metabolism
Tokishakuyakusan
uterus
Uterus - drug effects
Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A - biosynthesis
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Female hormone-dependent cancers and other diseases pose a serious health threat for women, and low-risk medicines against such cancers have not yet been discovered. The present study examines the effects of the traditional Chinese herbal mixture, Tokishakuyakusan (TS) and 17β-estradiol on the uterus of parous ovariectomized rats. Uterine atrophy that causes a reduction in uterine tissue and the uterine cavity area, was induced by ovariectomy, and slightly recovered by the daily oral administration of TS for two weeks (1000 mg/kg body weight). TS restored the decreased plasma estradiol concentration due to ovariectomy. However the yeast two-hybrid assay showed that TS did not bind estrogen receptors α and β and immunohistochemical staining revealed that 17β-estradiol stimulated the protein expression of estrogen receptor α, progesterone receptor, c-fos and c-jun in the uterus, whereas TS did not. These results suggest that TS might be useful for treating menopausal syndromes among women, as well as for patients when hormone replacement therapy (HRT) with estrogen is contraindicated.
ISSN:0918-6158
1347-5215
DOI:10.1248/bpb.31.1145