title: Ovarian failure-resistant effects of catalpol in aged female rats.
abstract: Catalpol, an iridoid glycoside obtained from various natural sources, has many biological functions. However, its ovarian failure-resistant effect has scarcely been studied. The present study used senile 14-month-old Sprague-Dawley female rats to examine the in vivo ovarian failure-resistant activity of catalpol. Daily oral graded doses of catalpol (1, 3, or 5 mg/kg/d) for 4 weeks signiﬁcantly increased the levels of serum 17β-estradiol (E2) and progesterone (P4) but reduced follicle-stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone levels. Electron microscopic analysis and flow cytometry showed that catalpol signiﬁcantly retarded apoptosis of the ovarian granulocytes of the rats. These findings suggest that catalpol works on the sex organs by nourishing ovarian tissues and improving both the quality and quantity of follicles, thus leading to rebalanced E2 and P4 levels in aged rats so that catalpol has a direct in vivo antiaging effect on the rat ovarian system.
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Science.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Ye
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Wenwen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ru
mesh_terms: D000311:Adrenal Glands / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D000375:Aging / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D004958:Estradiol / Q000097:blood* / Q000494:pharmacology; D004967:Estrogens / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D005640:Follicle Stimulating Hormone / Q000097:blood; D057888:Iridoid Glucosides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007986:Luteinizing Hormone / Q000097:blood; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D010053:Ovary / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D011374:Progesterone / Q000097:blood*; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D032267:Rehmannia; D014599:Uterus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D004967:Estrogens; D057888:Iridoid Glucosides; C078040:catalpol; D011374:Progesterone; D004958:Estradiol; D007986:Luteinizing Hormone; D005640:Follicle Stimulating Hormone