title: A herbal medicine, saikokaryukotsuboreito, improves serum testosterone levels and affects sexual behavior in old male mice.
abstract: Late-onset hypogonadism (LOH) is a clinical syndrome characterized with aging and declined serum testosterone levels. Sexual symptoms are also essential for the diagnosis of LOH. Testosterone replacement therapy is used widely to treat LOH. However, the side effects of it should not be ignored, such as fluid retention, hypertension and spermatogenic suppression. Therefore, alternate treatment modalities have been pursued. Herbal medicines used widely in China have achieved satisfying results with little side effects. Nonetheless, there are few pharmacological researches on them. In this study, 24-month-old mice were used as LOH animal models to explore the pharmacological effects of a herbal medicine, saikokaryukotsuboreito (SKRBT), on serum testosterone levels and sexual functions. Furthermore, the expression of steroidogenic acute regulatory (StAR) protein, a kind of rate-limiting enzyme of testosterone synthesis, was also examined. As a result, SKRBT improved the serum testosterone levels of these mice at a dose of 300 and 450 mg/kg. Multiple measures of sexual behavior were enhanced. The expression of StAR was also increased. Therefore, this study suggested that SKRBT can improve the serum testosterone levels by activating the expression of StAR and might be a viable option to treat sexual symptoms caused by LOH.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infertility and Sexual Medicine, The Third Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University , Guangzhou , People's Republic of China .
authors.forename: Zhi Jun
authors.initials: ZJ
authors.lastname: Zang
authors.forename: Su Yun
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.forename: Wang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: Ya Nan
authors.initials: YN
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Er Hong
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Zhang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Bin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000494:pharmacology*; D029001:Herbal Medicine; D020249:Hormone Replacement Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D007006:Hypogonadism / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D023421:Models, Animal; D010750:Phosphoproteins / Q000378:metabolism; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects*; D013739:Testosterone / Q000097:blood*; D000098682:Steroidogenic Acute Regulatory Protein
chemical_list: D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D010750:Phosphoproteins; C095444:saiko-ka-ryukotsu-borei-to; D000098682:Steroidogenic Acute Regulatory Protein; D013739:Testosterone
keywords: Herbal medicine; late-onset hypogonadism; male mice; saikokaryukotsuboreito; sexual behavior; testosterone