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Natural therapies from Costa Rica for the management of menopause: Estrogenic activity in the in vitro ER‐CALUX reporter gene assay
Author(s) -
Doyle Brian Joseph,
Locklear Tracie D.,
Perez Alice,
Brenes Juan Carlos,
LauritoGomez Jorge,
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-b
Subject(s) - reporter gene , estrogen receptor , estrogen , estrogen receptor alpha , menopause , pharmacology , estrogen receptor beta , endocrinology , medicine , biology , chemistry , gene expression , gene , biochemistry , cancer , breast cancer
During the menopausal transition, a decline in estrogen and progesterone production is the main cause of vasomotor symptoms (hot flashes and sweating), as well as other symptoms such as depression, mood swings, sleep disorders, vaginal dryness, and joint pain. In Costa Rica, women have symptoms similar to their U.S. counterparts and use specific herbal medicines for the management of menopausal symptoms. As part of an ongoing research project, we have assessed 16 plants from Costa Rica used to treat menopause in two different in vitro estrogenic assays. The first, a competitive estrogen receptor‐binding assay, measures the affinity of the extract for the estrogen receptors, ERα and ERβ. The second is a cell‐based reporter gene assay, the ER®‐CALUX® reporter gene assay for estrogens which detects the extract's ability to induce transcription of an estrogen responsive reporter gene. The ER®‐CALUX® assay consists of U2‐0S cells stably transfected with a luciferase reporter gene downstream of an estrogen response element. Six of the plant extracts bound to the estrogen receptor and were tested in the ER®‐CALUX® reporter gene assay. All but Smilax cordifolia and Hibiscus sabdariffa induced transcription of the estrogen responsive luciferase gene. These data support the use of these medicinal plants for the treatment of menopausal symptoms. This work is supported by an NIH/NCCAM grant (AT002381‐02).