METHODS: Forty-eight Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into six groups of eight rats each: (A) Sham operated; control (B) Untreated (ovariectomised (OVX) with vehicle), (C) PEL 100 (OVX + 100 mg/kg body weight (bw)), (D) PEL 300 (OVX + 300 mg/kg bw), (E) PEL 500 (OVX + 500 mg/kg bw) and (F) Positive control, testosterone undecanoate (TU) (OVX+ 10 mg/kg bw). Group A and B received daily oral administrations of the vehicle, Group C-E received daily oral administration of PEL and Group F received testosterone undecanoate intramuscularly weekly. At the end of 8 weeks, serum calcium, phosphate, bone alkaline phosphatase (BALP), osteocalcin, follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinising hormone (LH), oestrogen, progesterone and testosterone were measured, then the animals were sacrificed and uterus was isolated, while weight was recorded in all experimental groups.
RESULTS: Treatment of OVX rats with PEL at a dose of 500 mg/kg showed decreased serum FSH (P
OBJECTIVE: This review was aimed to critically analyze the therapeutic viability and anticancer efficacy of Eurycoma longifolia in the treatment of cancer and also to propose its molecular and translational mechanism of cytotoxicity against cancerous cells.
RESULTS: Among a range of medicinally active compounds isolated from various parts (roots, stem, bark and leaves) of Eurycoma longifolia, 16 compounds have shown promising anti-proliferative and anticancer efficacies. Eurycomanone, one of the most active medicinal compounds of Eurycoma longifolia, displayed a strong dose-dependent anticancer efficacy against lung carcinoma (A-549 cells) and breast cancer (MCF-7 cells); however, showed moderate efficacy against gastric (MGC-803 cells) and intestinal carcinomas (HT-29 cells). The prime mode of cytotoxicity of Eurycoma longifolia and its medicinal compounds is the induction of apoptosis (programmed cell death) via the up-regulation of the expression of p53 (tumor suppressor protein) and pro-apoptotic protein (Bax) and downregulation of the expression of anti-apoptotic protein (Bcl-2). A remarkable alleviation in the mRNA expression of various cancer-associated biomarkers including heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein (hnRNP), prohibitin (PHB), annexin-1 (ANX1) and endoplasmic reticulum protein-28 (ERp28) has also been evidenced.
CONCLUSION: Eurycoma longifolia and its medicinal constituents exhibit promising anticancer efficacy and thus can be considered as potential complementary therapy for the treatment of various types of human cancers.
OBJECTIVE: This review was aimed to critically overview the literature and summarizes the antibacterial, antiprotozoal, and antifungal trends of E. longifolia and its medicinally active components.
RESULTS: Besides its well-documented safety, efficacy, and tolerability, a plethora of in vitro, in vivo, and human clinical studies has evidenced the antimicrobial efficacy of E. longifolia and its bioactive constituents. Phytochemical screening of various types of extracts (methanolic, ethyl acetate, and nbutanolic) from different parts (roots, stem, and leaves) of E. longifolia displayed a dose-dependent antibacterial, antiprotozoal, and antifungal responses. Comparative analysis revealed that the root extract of E. longifolia exhibited the highest antimicrobial efficacy compared to other parts of the plant. Bioactivity-guided fractionation identified that among all of the medicinal compounds isolated/ extracted from different parts of E. longifolia, eurycomanone displayed the strongest antibacterial, antiprotozoal and antifungal activities.
CONCLUSION: Based on the critical analysis of the literature, we identified that E. longifolia exhibits promising antibacterial, antiprotozoal, and antifungal efficacies against various pathogenic microbes and thus can be considered as a potential complementary and alternative antimicrobial therapy.