title: [Effect of Erythrina variegata on Ca2+ homeostasis in ovariectomized rats and action mechanism].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the effect of Erythrina variegata (EV) on Ca2+ homeostasis in ovariectomized rats and the regulation on gene expression in duodenum and kidney.
  
  
  METHODS
  Four weeks after surgical operation, the ovariectomized (OVX) rats were administered orally with estradiol and EV extracts for 14 weeks. Ca level in serum and urine was measured by colorimetric methods, and gene expressions in duodenum and kidney were analyzed by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).
  
  
  RESULTS
  EV extracts could improve the serum Ca level and inhibite the urinary Ca excretion in OVX rats, and this might be due to the upregulation of EV on VDR mRNA expression in duodenum and CaBP-9k mRNA expression in kidney.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  EV could maintain Ca homeostasis in OVX rats.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Chinese Medicine and Molecular Pharmacology, Shenzhen 518057, China. medicineyan@yahoo.com.cn
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xiao-Li
authors.initials: XL
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Wen-Xiu
authors.initials: WX
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000652:urine; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004386:Duodenum / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D004895:Erythrina / Q000737:chemistry*; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000187:drug effects; D006706:Homeostasis / Q000187:drug effects*; D007668:Kidney / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D010052:Ovariectomy; D024301:Plant Bark / Q000737:chemistry; D010946:Plants, Medicinal / Q000737:chemistry; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D018167:Receptors, Calcitriol / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D064030:S100 Calcium Binding Protein G / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D018167:Receptors, Calcitriol; D064030:S100 Calcium Binding Protein G; D002118:Calcium