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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: JOE-08-0127v1 198/2/395    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Google Scholar Articles by Böttner, M. Articles by Wuttke, W. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Böttner, M. Articles by Wuttke, W.

Department of Clinical and Experimental Endocrinology, University of Göttingen, Robert-Koch-Strasse 40, D-37099 Göttingen, Germany¹ Department of Anatomy, University of Kiel, Otto-Hahn-Platz 8, D-24118 Kiel, Germany

(Correspondence should be addressed to M Böttner; Email: m.boettner{at}anat.uni-kiel.de)

^* (M Böttner and J Christoffel contributed equally to this work)

After the heart and estrogen/progestin replacement study and the women's health initiative study, the prospect of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) on cardiovascular diseases (CVD) has changed dramatically. These findings led to various attempts to search for alternatives for classical HRT, e.g. phytoestrogens. The flavanone 8-prenylnaringenin (8-PN) was identified as a phytoestrogen with strong estrogen receptor- activity. As the pituitary and the liver are targets for estrogen action, we assessed the effect of ovariectomy (OVX) and long-term treatment (3 months) with 17-β estradiol benzoate (E₂B) and 8-PN on pituitary and liver functions in adult OVX rats. Tested doses were 6.8 and 68.4 mg/kg body weight (BW) of 8-PN and 0.17 and 0.7 mg/kg BW of E₂B. Our results demonstrate that 8-PN and E₂B decreased BW and increased uterus weight. The high doses of E₂B and 8-PN increased serum GH and decreased serum IGF-1 levels. E₂B dose dependently decreased cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) concentrations in OVX rats. The high dose of 8-PN showed an estrogenic activity regarding cholesterol and LDL regulation but had no effect on HDL concentrations. By contrast, the low dose of 8-PN augmented HDL levels compared with intact rats. Triglyceride levels were raised in response to the high E₂B dose but unaffected by 8-PN treatment. Taken together, 8-PN displays an anti-atherosclerotic profile that appears to be even more beneficial than the one displayed by E₂B, and thus might demonstrate a remarkable potential for the prevention of CVD associated with estrogen deficiency.