WHO monographs on selected medicinal plants - travolekar.ru

Radix Panacis Quinquefolii
estradiol (10 −9 M) induced the expression of pS2 RNA and protein in
MCF-7 cells, whereas tamoxifen suppressed expression. Neither the extract
nor estradiol induced increased pS2 expression in T-47D or BT-
20 cell lines. Although estradiol exhibited a proliferative effect and tamoxifen
had an inhibitory effect, the extract of the crude drug had no
significant effect on cell proliferation. Because the extract does not exhibit
a proliferative effect, it may play a protective role against breast cancer
rather than serving as a mitogen (32).
Intragastric administration of the powdered root, at a dose of 100.0 mg/
kg bw for 28 days, enhanced mounting behaviour of male rats and increased
sperm counts in rabbit testes (33, 34). The effect of ginsenoside-
Rb1 on the secretion of luteinizing hormone was investigated in vivo and
in vitro. Male rats were orchidectomized 2 weeks or subjected to swim
training for 1 week before catheterization via the right jugular vein. They
were intravenously injected with ginsenoside-Rb1 (10.0 μg/kg bw) or saline
15 minutes before a challenge with gonadotropin-releasing hormone
or a 10 minute-swim. Blood samples were collected at several time intervals
following intravenous injection of ginsenoside-Rb1. In the in vitro
experiment, male rats were decapitated and their anterior pituitary glands
were either bisected or enzymatically dispersed. The dispersed anterior
pituitary gland cells were primed with dihydrotestosterone for 3 days,
and then challenged with ginsenoside-Rbl (10.0 and 100.0 μM, n = 8) for
3 h. The concentrations of luteinizing hormone or testosterone in samples
were measured by radioimmunoassay. Administration of ginsenoside-
Rb1 did not alter the levels of plasma luteinizing hormone in either intact
or orchidectomized rats, but significantly increased concentration of
plasma luteinizing hormone at the termination of the 10-minute swimming
exercise. Administration of ginsenoside-Rb1 resulted in a lower testosterone
response to gonadotropin-releasing hormone challenge or
swimming exercise than seen in saline-treated rats. Ginsenoside-Rb1
dose-dependently increased the release of luteinizing hormone from both
hemi-anterior pituitary gland tissues and the dihydrotestosterone-primed
dispersed anterior pituitary gland cells in vitro. These results suggest that
ginsenoside-Rb1 increases secretion of luteinizing hormone by acting directly
on cells of rat anterior pituitary gland (34).
Immune stimulation effects
The immunostimulatory activities of an aqueous extract (1 g in 10 ml water)
and a methanol extract (1 g in 200 ml methanol) of the root were assessed in
rat alveolar macrophages. Tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-) production
was used as a measure of activity. The aqueous extracts (1.0–100.0 μg/
ml) significantly stimulated alveolar macrophage TNF- release. By con-
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