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These compounds appear to be promising to overcome breast cancer treatment failure. However, despite the interesting activities, additional preclinical investigations are needed in further breast cancer cell/tumor models in vitro and in vivo.

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Background Millettia macrophylla was previously reported to have estrogenic effects and to prevent postmenopausal osteoporosis in Wistar rats. So, the study deals with the identification of its secondary metabolites and the evaluation of their estrogenicity and cytotoxicity toward tumoural cells. Thus, 13 known compounds were obtained from successive chromatographic columns and identified by NMR data compared to those previously reported.MethodsIn vitro estrogenicity of the isolates and the phenolic fraction (PF) of M. macrophylla were performed by E-screen and reporter gene assays, while their cytotoxicity was evaluated by Alamar Blue (resazurin) assay. A 3-days uterotrophic assay and the ability of PF to alleviate hot flushes in ovariectomized adult rats were tested in vivo.ResultsSeven of the 13 secondary metabolites turned to be estrogenic. Only two exhibited cytotoxic effects on MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 with CC50 values of 110 μM and 160 μM, respectively. PF induced a significant (p < 0.01) MCF-7 cells proliferation and transactivated both ERα and ERβ in the reported gene assay at 10−2 μg/mL. In vivo, PF acted more efficiently than the methanol crude extract, resulting to a significant (p < 0.01) increase in the uterine wet weight, uterine protein level, uterine and vaginal epithelial height at the dose of 10 mg/kg BW. In addition, PF reduced the average duration and frequency of hot flushes induced in rat.ConclusionThese aforementioned results indicate that PF is a good candidate for the preparation of an improved traditional medicine able to alleviate some menopausal complaints such as vaginal dryness and hot flushes.Graphical abstractEstrogenic and cytotoxic potentials of compounds isolated from Millettia macrophylla Benth. (Fabaceae): towards a better understanding of its underlying mechanism Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12906-016-1385-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Background: Despite the wide use of leaves of Myrianthus arboreus (Cecropiaceae) in several African countries including Cameroon as food and against amenorrhea and female infertility, it has never been tested for this purpose. Methods: Using immature female Wistar rats, the impact of M. arboreus on the sexual maturation parameters (vaginal opening, ovarian relative weight and follicle maturation, gonadotropins and ovarian hormones serum levels) and fertility index has been evaluated through a 30-day oral administration of aqueous and methanol extracts of leaves at the doses of 20, 110 and 200 g/kg/day. Results: Aqueous extract increased the ovarian relative weight (p < 0.001), progesterone (p < 0.001) and gonadotropins (p < 0.001) serum levels, and induced the maturation of ovarian follicles. The methanol extract additionally induced an early vaginal opening (p < 0.001), uterine growth (p < 0.01) and increased estradiol (p < 0.001) serum levels. The fertility index generally increased following treatments, while the gestation rate remained almost unaffected except at the highest tested dose of M. arboreus extracts where lowest values were observed. Conclusion: Globally, M. arboreus induced an early puberty onset and an increased fertility rate validating at least in part its traditional use for female infertility.