Biological and Pharmaceutical Bulletin
Online ISSN : 1347-5215
Print ISSN : 0918-6158
ISSN-L : 0918-6158
Regular Articles
Estrogenic Effects of a Kampo Formula, Tokishakuyakusan, in Parous Ovariectomized Rats
Mi Hwa ChungSawako SuzukiTsutomu NishiharaMasao Hattori
Author information
JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

2008 Volume 31 Issue 6 Pages 1145-1149

Details
Abstract

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.

Content from these authors
© 2008 The Pharmaceutical Society of Japan
Previous article Next article
feedback
Top