Petasites japonicus Stimulates the Proliferation of Mouse Spermatogonial Stem Cells

Abstract

Oriental natural plants have been used as medical herbs for the treatment of various diseases for over 2,000 years. In this study, we evaluated the effect of several natural plants on the preservation of male fertility by assessing the ability of plant extracts to stimulate spermatogonial stem cell (SSC) proliferation by using a serum-free culture method. In vitro assays showed that Petasites japonicus extracts, especially the butanol fraction, have a significant effect on germ cells proliferation including SSCs. The activity of SSCs cultured in the presence of the Petasites japonicus butanol fraction was confirmed by normal colony formation and spermatogenesis following germ cell transplantation of the treated SSCs. Our findings could lead to the discovery of novel factors that activate SSCs and could be useful for the development of technologies for the prevention of male infertility.

Role of Antioxidant Natural Products in Management of Infertility: A Review of Their Medicinal Potential

“…The levels of LH, FSH, testosterone, cholesterol, glycogen, and sialic acid came back to normal, which supported the fertility enhancing activities. Petasites japonicus MeOH extract proliferated the generation and activity of spermatogonial stem cells when treated to SSC/C57BL/6 mice at doses of 0.1, 1, 10 μg/mL for 7 days [ 71 ]. Elevated levels of LHX1 and GFRα1 were observed, which were used as markers of differentiation of spermatogonia at the basement membrane of seminiferous tubules.…”

Plants in the management of male infertility

“…Petasites japonicus known as Japanese butterbur is an herbaceous plant from the compositae family. The Japanese butterbur is found mainly in Korea, Japan and Taiwan (Cui, Kim, & Sok, ; Kang et al, ). In many European countries, Japanese butterbur is consumed as a food and used for therapeutic purposes (Cui et al, ; Wang et al, ).…”

“…Petasites japonicus was shown to stimulate spermatogonial stem cell proliferation and through its antioxidant effects improved the capacity of the stem cells to colonise recipient mouse testes (Kang et al, ). The presence of sesquiterpenes especially eremophilane‐type sesquiterpenoids in extracts of P. japonicus that have antioxidant properties and the fact that no side effects of P. japonicus have been reported are expected to lead to the development of new botanicals that might find application in the treatment of male infertility (Kang et al, ).…”

Yangjing Capsule extract promotes proliferation of GC-1 spg cells <i>via</i> up-regulated POU3F1 pathway

“…For example, natural drugs like Petasites Japonicas butanol (36), Rhodiola Sachalinensis polysaccharides (37), Lycium Bararum polysaccharides (38) and Astragalus (39), others like growth factors (40), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) (41), human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) (42), Zinc (43) and Selenium (44), all have proliferative effects. In comparison with biomonomers of natural drugs and other chemicals, sophisticated compounds of TCM have various effects made by a variety of chemical components, multi-linked and multi-targeted in the body.…”