Effect of Pueraria mirifica on the Sexual Skin Coloration of Aged Menopausal Cynomolgus Monkeys

Abstract

Abstract. To investigate the estrogenic effect of Pueraria mirifica (PM), a Thai herbal plant that contains many phytoestrogens, sexual skin coloration was studied in cynomolgus monkeys. Aged menopausal monkeys were divided into three groups. Each group (n=3) was fed 10, 100, or 1,000 mg of PM daily. The treatment schedule was divided into three periods, a 30-day pre-treatment period, 90-day treatment period, and 60-day post-treatment period. The results show that the sexual skin exhibited reddish coloration within 24 h after PM-treatment and remained this way for the first half of the PMfeeding period. The changes in sexual skin coloration were not dose-dependent. The present results indicate that PM had estrogenic action by increasing reddish sexual skin coloration in aged menopausal monkeys. Key words: Macaca fascicularis, Phytoestrogens, Pueraria mirifica, Sexual skin (J. Reprod. Dev. 52: [537][538][539][540][541][542] 2006) t has been recognized that the roots of Pueraria mirifica (PM), a Thai herbal plant, contain many kinds of phytoestrogens, such as genistein, daidzein, and coumestrol, which are also found in soy plants and soy products, and miroestrol, deoxymiroestrol, peurarin, and mirificin [1][2][3][4]. The phytoestrogens from soys [5,6] and PM roots [7][8][9] have been reported to have estrogenic actions in both in vivo and in vitro studies. The estrogenic effect of PM was examined in vitro using MCF-7 cell proliferation and HepG2 cell transient transfection assay [7,8]. PM had a dual effect on the growth of MCF-7 human mammary adenocarcinoma cells after 4 days of incubation, i.e. stimulating growth at a low dose and suppressing it with a high dose [8]. PM also showed estrogenic activity on a human hepatoma cell line, HepG2 cells, containing estrogen receptor and luciferase reporter gene [7]. Administration of PM produced cornified cells, g r o w t h o f t h e e n d o m e t r i u m g l a n d , a n d proliferation of spiral arteries in ovariectomized rats [9]. Furthermore, we reported in a recent investigation that daily feeding of PM had an estrogenic effect by suppressing gonadotropin and estrogen secretions in aged female cynomolgus monkeys [10].The influence of estrogen on the sexual skin area around the perineum to the base of the tail has been

Differential binding with ERα and ERβ of the phytoestrogen-rich plant Pueraria mirifica

“…The plant is a rich source of phytoestrogens including mirestrol (13), deoxymirestrol (14) and isoflavonoids (15,16). The plant's powdered tuber has been shown to improve the lipid profiles and biochemical markers of bone turnover rates (17) and the recovery of vaginal health (18) in clinical trials with menopausal Thai females and also to provide other health benefits as demonstrated in animal tests such as prevention of osteoporosis (19,20), breast cancer (21) and estrogen deficiency replacement (22,23). However, there is only one report about this plant that demonstrated the action of the plant phytoestrogens at the ERα and ERβ level (21).…”

Mutagenic and antimutagenic effects of the traditional phytoestrogen-rich herbs, Pueraria mirifica and Pueraria lobata

“…Consumption of the tuberous powder generates a strong estrogenic activity as revealed by the induction of vaginal cornification in ovariectomized rats (5,6) and by the MCF-7 cell proliferation assay (7). Treatment of gonadectomized rats with plant tuber powder resulted in a reduction of LH and FSH levels (8), with dose-dependent estrogenic responses in female mice (9), female monkeys (10), and menopausal monkeys (11)(12)(13). The plant tuber powder also elicits dose-dependent physiological responses in male mice with a reduction in the weight of the epididymis and the seminal vesicles and reduced sperm motility and viability (14), promoting protection against osteoporosis in orchidectomized male (15) and female rats (16).…”

Determination of the Estrogenic Activity of Wild Phytoestrogen-rich Pueraria mirifica by MCF-7 Proliferation Assay

“…In aged menopausal monkeys, consumption of crude powder from the plant decreases the concentrations of FSH and LH [12] and parathyroid hormone (PTH) [13] and induces reappearance of sexual skin [14]. Consumption of a high amount of P. mirifica caused disruption of male sex organs, including the epididymis and seminal vesicle, and affects sperm motility and viability [15] but leads to protection against osteoporosis in orchidectomized rats [16].…”