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Alternative therapies from Costa Rica for the management of PMS and dysmenorrhea: Justicia pectoralis Jacq.: mechanisms of action
Author(s) -
Locklear Tracie Delane,
Doyle Brian J,
Sanchez Alice Perez,
LauritoGomez Jorge,
Brenes Juan Carlos,
Huang Yue,
Mahady Gail B
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.21.5.a436-a
Subject(s) - medicine , nausea , adverse effect , menstruation , tramadol , headaches , traditional medicine , pharmacology , surgery , analgesic
Primary dysmenorrhea is a gynecological disorder characterized by nausea, menstrual cramps, headaches, and lower back pain occurring within the first few days of menstruation. This disorder affects approximately 30–60% of menstruating women, and averages to a loss of about 6 billion work hours, and nearly $200 million dollars a year. NSAIDs and oral contraceptives (OC) are essentially the first line of treatment for women with severe primary dysmenorrhea. However, there are substantial adverse events associated with the prolonged use of NSAIDs and OCs or both. In Central America, women use herbal remedies to treat a wide range of painful conditions including dysmenorrhea. One such plant‐based medicine is Justicia pectoralis Jacq. (Acanthaceae). In this work, we demonstrate that extracts of J. pectoralis collected in Costa Rica inhibit COX‐2 catalytic activity (IC 50 4.8 μg/ml); bind to ERα and ER® (IC 50 50 μg/ml and 23.1 μg/ml, respectively) and induce estrogen‐dependent transcription in a reporter gene assay; bind to the progesterone receptor (IC 50 22.8 μg/ml; as well as bind to the serotonin receptor 1A (IC 50 50 μg/ml). These activities suggest that there is a plausible mechanism of action for the traditional use of J. pectoralis in the treatment of dysmenorrhea and other symptoms of premenstrual syndrome. This work is supported by an NIH/NCCAM grant (AT02381‐02; Mahady PI).