Plant derived alternatives for hormone replacement therapy (HRT)

Estrogenic Plants: to Prevent Neurodegeneration and Memory Loss and Other Symptoms in Women After Menopause

In mammals, sexual hormones such as estrogens play an essential role in maintaining brain homeostasis and function. Estrogen deficit in the brain induces many undesirable symptoms such as learning and memory impairment, sleep and mood disorders, hot flushes, and fatigue. These symptoms are frequent in women who reached menopausal age or have had ovariectomy and in men and women subjected to anti-estrogen therapy. Hormone replacement therapy alleviates menopause symptoms; however, it can increase cardiovascular and cancer diseases. In the search for therapeutic alternatives, medicinal plants and specific synthetic and natural molecules with estrogenic effects have attracted widespread attention between the public and the scientific community. Various plants have been used for centuries to alleviate menstrual and menopause symptoms, such as Cranberry, Ginger, Hops, Milk Thistle, Red clover, Salvia officinalis, Soy, Black cohosh, Turnera diffusa, Ushuva, and Vitex. This review aims to highlight current evidence about estrogenic medicinal plants and their pharmacological effects on cognitive deficits induced by estrogen deficiency during menopause and aging.

Phytoestrogens, phytosteroids and saponins in vegetables: Biosynthesis, functions, health effects and practical applications

Phytoestrogens are non-steroidal secondary metabolites with similarities in structure and biological activities with human estrogens divided into various classes of compounds, including lignans, isoflavones, ellagitannins, coumestans and stilbenes. Similarly, phytosteroids are steroidal compounds of plant origin which have estrogenic effects and can act as agonists, antagonists, or have a mixed agonistic/antagonistic activity to animal steroid receptors. On the other hand, saponins are widely distributed plant glucosides divided into triterpenoid and steroidal saponins that contribute to plant defense mechanism against herbivores. They present a great variation from a structural point of view, including compounds from different classes. In this chapter, the main vegetable sources of these compounds will be presented, while details regarding their biosynthesis and plant functions will be also discussed. Moreover, considering the significant bioactive properties that these compounds exhibit, special focus will be given on their health effects, either beneficial or adverse. The practical applications of these compounds in agriculture and phytomedicine will be also demonstrated, as well as the future prospects for related research.

Spinacia oleracea extract attenuates disease progression and sub-chondral bone changes in monosodium iodoacetate-induced osteoarthritis in rats

Background

Spinacia oleracea is an important dietary vegetable in India and throughout the world and has many beneficial effects. It is cultivated globally. However, its effect on osteoarthritis that mainly targets the cartilage cells remains unknown. In this study we aimed to evaluate the anti-osteoarthritic and chondro-protective effects of SOE on chemically induced osteoarthritis (OA).

Methods

OA was induced by intra-patellar injection of monosodium iodoacetate (MIA) at the knee joint in rats. SOE was then given orally at 250 and 500 mg.kg^− 1 day^− 1 doses for 28 days to these rats. Anti-osteoarthritic potential of SOE was evaluated by micro-CT, mRNA and protein expression of pro-inflammatory and chondrogenic genes, clinically relevant biomarker’s and behavioural experiments.

Results

In vitro cell free and cell based assays indicated that SOE acts as a strong anti-oxidant and an anti-inflammatory agent. Histological analysis of knee joints at the end of the experiment by safranin-o and toluidine blue staining established its protective effect. Radiological data corroborated the findings with improvement in the joint space and irregularity of the articular and atrophied femoral condyles and tibial plateau. Micro-CT analysis of sub-chondral bone indicated that SOE had the ability to mitigate OA effects by increasing bone volume to tissue volume (BV/TV) which resulted in decrease of trabecular pattern factor (Tb.Pf) by more than 200%. SOE stimulated chondrogenic marker gene expression with reduction in pro-inflammatory markers. Purified compounds isolated from SOE exhibited increased Sox-9 and Col-II protein expression in articular chondrocytes. Serum and urine analysis indicated that SOE had the potential to down-regulate glutathione S-transferase (GST) activity, clinical markers of osteoarthritis like cartilage oligometric matrix protein (COMP) and CTX-II. Overall, this led to a significant improvement in locomotion and balancing activity in rats as assessed by Open-field and Rota rod test.

Conclusion

On the basis of in vitro and in vivo experiments performed with Spinacea oleracea extract we can deduce that SOE has the ability to alleviate the MIA induced deleterious effects.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s12906-018-2117-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Herbal medicine for low sexual desire in menopausal women: A clinical review

Many women typically experience a significant reduction in sexual desire during the late perimenopausal and early postmenopausal stages, with the biggest decline in sexual desire occurring from three years prior to two years after the final menstrual period. Despite being a prevalent female complaint, currently no standard treatment for low sexual desire exists. Herbal medicines have been used therapeutically all around the world, and are an important component of Traditional and Complementary Medicine. There have been numerous trials and pharmacological studies of specific herbal preparations related to the treatment of low sexual desire. This article serves to provide a clinical review of the evidence relating to the herbal treatment options for this common condition.