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Standardized Saw Palmetto Extract Directly and Indirectly Affects Testosterone Biosynthesis and Spermatogenesis.
- Source :
-
Journal of medicinal food [J Med Food] 2021 Jun; Vol. 24 (6), pp. 617-625. - Publication Year :
- 2021
-
Abstract
- We investigated whether a standardized saw palmetto extract (SP, mixture of supercritical extract and ethanol extract at a ratio of 9.5 to 0.5) can relieve the symptoms of andropause, including metabolic syndrome, and decreases in muscle endurance and spermatogenesis, in old rats. Twenty-four-week-old male Sprague Dawley rats received oral supplementation of SP at 40, 80, and 160 mg/kg body weight (bw) for 4 weeks. We found that SP supplementation reduced body weight gain by decreasing visceral and epididymal fat weights and the levels of serum triglycerides, total cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein/very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. In addition, SP supplementation increased muscle endurance, sperm counts, and testosterone biosynthesis through hormonal regulation. In Leydig cells under hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidative stress, SP treatment directly induced testosterone biosynthesis by activating the mRNA expression of the genes encoding 17,20-desmolase and 3 β -hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 4. In conclusion, our results suggest that supplementation of SP may be useful for alleviating the symptoms of andropause via direct and indirect regulation of testosterone biosynthesis.
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1557-7600
- Volume :
- 24
- Issue :
- 6
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Journal of medicinal food
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 34161166
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1089/jmf.2021.K.0021