title: Effects of dietary isoflavones from Puerariae radix on lipid and bone metabolism in ovariectomized rats.
abstract: Puerariae radix, the dried root of Pueraria lobata Ohwi, is one of the earliest and most important edible crude herbs used for various medical purposes in oriental medicine. This study evaluated the metabolic effects of total isoflavones from P. lobata (PTIF) in ovariectomized (OVX) rats. The OVX rats were divided into four groups treated with distilled water, 17β-estradiol (E2 10 μg/kg, once daily, i.p.) and PTIF (30 and 100 mg/kg, once daily, p.o.) for eight weeks. The treatments with high-dose PTIF significantly decreased the bone mineral density (BMD) loss in the femur and inhibited the increase in body weight and lipoprotein levels compared to the OVX-control group without elevating the serum levels of the liver enzymes, aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine transaminase (ALT). Furthermore, PTIF exhibits a hepatoprotective effect in OVX-induced hepatic steatosis, indicated with reduced hepatic lipid contents. Taken together, our findings suggest that PTIF may be useful for controlling lipid and bone metabolism, at least in OVX rats. Further research is necessary to determine whether PTIF will have the same effects in humans.
authors.affiliation: Functionality Evaluation Research Group, Korea Food Research Institute, Seongnam 463-746, Korea. neodw4015@naver.com
authors.forename: Dong Wook
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Jae Goo
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Yun Tai
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D000818:Animals; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases / Q000097:blood; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D015519:Bone Density / Q000187:drug effects; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D004032:Diet; D004958:Estradiol / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D007529:Isoflavones / Q000494:pharmacology*; D050356:Lipid Metabolism / Q000187:drug effects*; D008074:Lipoproteins / Q000097:blood; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D010052:Ovariectomy; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D029908:Pueraria / Q000737:chemistry*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D007529:Isoflavones; D008074:Lipoproteins; D010936:Plant Extracts; D004958:Estradiol; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases; D000410:Alanine Transaminase