Palmiwon attenuates hepatic lipid accumulation and hyperlipidemia in a menopausal rat model

Cimicifuga heracleifolia is therapeutically similar to black cohosh in relieving menopausal symptoms: evidence from pharmacological and metabolomics studies

In the market of botanical dietary supplements, Cimicifuga heracleifolia (CH) has always been considered as an adulterated species of Cimicifuga racemosa (CR), a conventional American herb with promising benefits to counteract troubles arising from the menopause. However, the detailed comparison of their therapeutic effects is lacking. In present study, the pharmacological and metabolomics studies were comparatively conducted between CH and CR in ovariectomized (OVX) female rats. Specifically, estrogen-like, anti-hyperlipidemia and anti-osteoporosis effects were evaluated through measuring serum biochemical parameters, histopathological examination and micro computed tomography (Micro-CT) scanning. At the same time, a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS)-based serum metabolomics method was employed to profile the metabolite compositional changes. As a result, both CR and CH displayed anti-osteoporosis and anti-hyperlipemia on menopause syndrome. Meanwhile, their potentials in improving the OVX-induced metabolic disorders were discovered. In conclusion, these results demonstrated that CH is therapeutically similar to CR in relieving menopausal symptoms and CH could be considered as a promising alternative to CR instead of an adulterant in the market of botanical dietary supplements.

Investigating the Systems-Level Effect of Pueraria lobata for Menopause-Related Metabolic Diseases Using an Ovariectomized Rat Model and Network Pharmacological Analysis

This study was conducted to evaluate the biological activities of Pueraria lobata (PL) on menopause-related metabolic diseases and to explore the underlying mechanism of PL by network pharmacological analyses. We used ovariectomized (OVX) rats as a postmenopausal model and administered PL at different doses (50, 100, and 200 mg/kg). In OVX rats, decreased uterine weights and PPAR-γ (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma) mRNA expression in the thigh muscle were significantly recovered after PL administration. PL also significantly alleviated OVX-induced increases in total cholesterol, triglyceride, alanine aminotransferase (ALT/GPT), and aspartate aminotransferase (AST/GOT) levels. To identify the systems-level mechanism of PL, we performed network pharmacological analyses by predicting the targets of the potential bioactive compounds and their associated pathways. We identified 61 targets from four potential active compounds of PL: formononetin, beta-sitosterol, 3’-methoxydaidzein, and daidzein-4,7-diglucoside. Pathway enrichment analysis revealed that among female sex hormone-related pathways, the estrogen signaling pathways, progesterone-mediated oocyte maturation, oxytocin signaling pathways, and prolactin signaling pathways were associated with multiple targets of PL. In conclusion, we found that PL improved various indicators associated with lipid metabolism in the postmenopausal animal model, and we also identified that its therapeutic effects are exerted via multiple female sex hormone-related pathways.

In vitro and in vivo effects of ethanol extract combined with Curcumae Radix and Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma on menopausal metabolic disturbances

Curcumae Radix (CR) and Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma (GR) extracts have been used as health supplements in traditional medicine. This study was performed to evaluate the effects of combined CR and GR extracts (CR+GR) on metabolic complications related menopausal symptoms. We found a significant results that CR+GR extracted using ethanol stimulated the growth of MCF-7 cells in estrogen activity and was attenuated in lipid deposition of HepG2 cells treated with MβCD compared to CR and GR treatments each. To investigate the situation, an experimental menopause rat model with dyslipidemia was induced by surgical bilateral ovariectomy (OVX) and high fat high cholesterol (HFHC) diet in female rats. OVX rats fed HFHC (OVX-HFHC) showed a shift in weight gain, elevated serum cholesterol, altered liver enzymatic parameters and enhanced liver injury compared to the NC and HFHC groups. However, administration of CR+GR, in particular 200 or 450 mg/kg/day, inhibited the increase in body weight gain and lipid metabolic disturbances, lowering total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) compared to the OVX-HFHC group. Furthermore, CR+GR (200 or 450 mg/kg/day) ameliorated the serum levels of the liver enzymes aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine transaminase (ALT) compared to the OVX-HFHC group. Moreover, CR+GR (200 or 450 mg/kg/day) attenuated not only hepatic steatosis but also larger adipocytes. Our study demonstrated that combined treatment with CR and GR attenuated metabolic complications induced by OVX and HFHC diet, suggesting that this effect may regulate and prevent the acceleration of cardiovascular disease (CVD) after menopause.