Investigation of the Tuber Constituents of Maca (<i>Lepidium meyenii</i>Walp.)

Piacente, Sonia; Carbone, Virginia; Plaza, Alberto; Zampelli, and Aurelia; Pìzza, Cosimo

doi:10.1021/jf020280x

Cited by 125 publications

(121 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Maca also contains sterols, such as campesterol, stigmasterol and -sitosterol (Zheng et al 2000); however -sitosterol has been found to be an anti-fertility agent in male rats rather than a compound that enhances fertility (Malini & Vanithakumari 1991). Piacente et al (2002) found that Maca also contained (1R,3S)-1-methyltetrahydro--carboline-3 carboxylic acid.…”

Section: Coefficient Of Regression Significancementioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Lepidium meyenii (Maca) on spermatogenesis in male rats acutely exposed to high altitude (4340 m)

Gonzales¹,

Gasco²,

Cordova³

et al. 2004

Journal of Endocrinology

128

127

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Lepidium meyenii (Maca) is a Peruvian hypocotyl that grows exclusively between 4000 and 4500 m in the central Andes. Maca is traditionally employed in the Andean region for its supposed fertility-enhancing properties.The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that Maca can prevent high altitude-induced testicular disturbances. Adult male rats were exposed for 21 days to an altitude of 4340 m and treated with vehicle or aqueous extract of Maca (666·6 mg/day). The lengths of the stages of the seminiferous epithelium and epididymal sperm counts were obtained at 0, 7, 14 and 21 days of exposure. The stages of the seminiferous tubules were assessed by transillumination. A dose-response study was also performed at sea level to determine the effect of Maca given to male rats at doses of 0, 6·6, 66·6 and 666·6 mg/day for 7 days on body weight, seminiferous tubule stages and epididymal sperm count. The length of stage VIII and the epididymal sperm count were increased in a dosedependent manner in Maca-treated rats but treatment reduced the length of stage I. At the highest dose, sperm count increased 1·58 times, the length of stage VIII increased 2·4 times and the length of stage I was reduced 0·48 times compared with the value at dose 0. Exposure to high altitude resulted in a reduction in epididymal sperm count after 7 days and lower values were maintained up to 21 days. Altitude reduced spermiation (stage VIII) to half and the onset of spermatogenesis (stages IX-XI) to a quarter on days 7 and 14 but treatment with Maca (666·6 mg/day) prevented these changes. Data on transillumination and epididymal sperm count in the Macatreated group exposed to high altitude were similar to those obtained at sea level. Maca increased the sperm count on day 21 of exposure to high altitude to values similar (1095·25 20·41 10 6 sperm, means S.E.M.) to those obtained in the Maca-treated group at sea level (1132·30 172·95 10 6 sperm). Furthermore, in the Maca-treated group exposed for 21 days to high altitude, epididymal sperm count was higher than in the nontreated group at sea level (690·49 43·67 10 6 sperm). In conclusion, treatment of rats with Maca at high altitude prevented high altitude-induced spermatogenic disruption.

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Section: Coefficient Of Regression Significancementioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Lepidium meyenii (Maca) on spermatogenesis in male rats acutely exposed to high altitude (4340 m)

Gonzales¹,

Gasco²,

Cordova³

et al. 2004

Journal of Endocrinology

128

127

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“…Maca has recently been studied profusely because of the diverse pharmacological properties, such as fertility enhancer, sexual performance effects, and endurance capacity enhancer (Cicero et al 2001;BustosObregón et al 2005;Ruiz-Luna et al 2005). The maca root contains high nutritional value component (Dini et al, 1994) and several unique secondary metabolites, such as macamides, macaene, alkaloids, glucosinolates, and sterols (Ganzera et al 2002;Muhammad et al 2002;Piacente et al 2002;Cui et al 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of macamides on endurance capacity and anti-fatigue property in prolonged swimming mice

Yang

Jin

et al. 2015

Pharmaceutical Biology

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Objective: The present study investigates the effects of macamides on endurance capacity and antifatigue property in prolonged swimming mice. Materials and methods: The Balb/c mice were divided into seven groups: a control group, low-dose groups of N-benzyllinoleamide, N-benzyloleamide, and N-benzylpalmitamide, high-dose groups of these macamides. The macamides groups received the commercial products (12 and 40 mg/kg, ig), while the control group received vehicle for 21 d. On the 14th day, the mice were given the weightloaded swimming test. On the 21st day, the mice were sacrificed immediately after 90 min swimming, and some biochemical parameters were measured. Results and discussion: Compared with the control group, exhaustive swimming time was significantly prolonged in high-dose group of N-benzyloleamide (p50.05); the levels of lactic acid (LD), blood ammonia (BA), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were significantly decreased (p50.05), whereas the levels of liver glycogen (LG) and non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA) were significantly increased (p50.05) in high-dose group of N-benzyloleamide. The malondialdehyde (MDA) contents in the brain, muscle, and liver were significantly decreased (p50.05), whereas superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX) activities in the brain, muscle, and liver were significantly increased in high-dose group of N-benzyloleamide (p50.05). Conclusion:The results indicate that N-benzyloleamide has pharmaceutical property against exercise-induced fatigue, and this effect can be explained by the modulated energy metabolism and improved antioxidant status.

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“…Its tremendous health benefits, particularly to reproduction and fertility, have drawn great investments from pharmacological research in recent years (Piacente et al 2002;Shin et al 2010). Maca roots contain several secondary metabolites of interest including glucosinolates, fatty acid esters, phytosterols, alkaloids, and alkamides (macamides) (Piacente et al 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification and characterization of microRNAs and their targets in high-altitude stress-adaptive plant maca (Lepidium meyenii Walp)

Paul

2017

3 Biotech

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MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are endogenous, short (*21-nucleotide), non-coding RNA molecules that play pivotal roles in plant growth, development, and stress response signaling. In this study using recently published draft genome sequence of a high-altitude plant maca (Lepidium meyenii Walp) and applying genome-wide computational-based approaches, a total of 62 potentially conserved miRNAs belonging to 28 families were identified and four (lme-miR160a, lme-miR164c, lme-miR 166a, and lme-miR 319a) of them further validated by RT-PCR. Deploying psRNATarget tool a total of 99 potential miRNA target transcripts were also identified in maca. Targets include a number of transcription factors like Squamosa promoter-binding, NAC, MYB, auxin response factor, APETALA, WRKY, and F-box protein. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first genome-based miRNA profiling of a high-altitude plant.Keywords Maca (Lepidium meyenii Walp) Á High-altitude plant Á Stress Á miRNA Á MFEI Á miRNA targets Abbreviations miRNA MicroRNA MFE Minimum folding free energy MFEI Minimum folding free energy index

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Investigation of the Tuber Constituents of Maca (Lepidium meyeniiWalp.)

Cited by 125 publications

References 23 publications

Effect of Lepidium meyenii (Maca) on spermatogenesis in male rats acutely exposed to high altitude (4340 m)

Effect of Lepidium meyenii (Maca) on spermatogenesis in male rats acutely exposed to high altitude (4340 m)

Effects of macamides on endurance capacity and anti-fatigue property in prolonged swimming mice

Identification and characterization of microRNAs and their targets in high-altitude stress-adaptive plant maca (Lepidium meyenii Walp)

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