ESTROGENIC ACTIVITY OF STANDARDISED EXTRACTS OF ETHNOMEDICINAL PLANTS AS A COMBINATION FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF MENOPAUSAL SYMPTOMS

Abstract

Ethno medicinal plants viz. Vitex negundo L. (fruits), Linum usitatissimum L. (seeds) and Asteracantha longifolia Nees. (seeds) have been claimed for their potential use in women’s health problems. These plants have been a part of various traditional formulations available in the market for the management of menopausal syndrome individually or in combination. The study aimed to standardize β-sitosterol rich extracts of V. negundo, L. usitatissimum and A. longifolia individually and in combination for the management of menopausal syndrome using ovariectomized rats for estrogenic activity. In the present work, extracts of V. negundo, L. usitatissimum and A. longifolia have been standardized using HPTLC in terms of their β-sitosterol content. These plants as well as their polyherbal combination were evaluated for their efficacy in terms of production of 17β-estrogen in ovariectomized rats. Effect on histoarchitecture of the uterus, uterine weight, changes glycogen levels, G6PDH, LDH, 17β-estrogen and progesterone were also analyzed. Among the two doses administered in ovariectomized rats, high dose of polyherbal combination was found to be more efficacious than the low dose and the individual plants. Present work establishes synergistic effect of these three ethnomedicinal plant extracts as a combination in a dose dependent manner. The enhanced estrogenic activity of polyherbal combination is clearly evident with the results of current study and comparable with estradiol valerate treatment. Thus, these results justify the use of standardized extracts as a polyherbal combination which can be used as an adjunct therapy in the management of menopause symptoms.