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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Supplemental Figures All Versions of this Article: 295/3/E719    most recent 90367.2008v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Google Scholar Articles by Hsia, S.-M. Articles by Wang, P. S. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Hsia, S.-M. Articles by Wang, P. S.

TRANSLATIONAL PHYSIOLOGY

Effects of adlay hull extracts on uterine contraction and Ca²⁺ mobilization in the rat

¹Cardinal Tien College of Healthcare and Management; ²Graduate Institute of Food Science and Technology, Center for Food and Biomolecules, College of Bioresources and Agriculture, National Taiwan University, Taipei; ³Tsuzuki Institute for Traditional Medicine, College of Pharmacy, China Medical University, Taichung; ⁴Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei; and ⁵Department of Medical Research and Education, Taipei City Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan

Submitted 15 April 2008 ; accepted in final form 23 June 2008

Dysmenorrhea is directly related to elevated PGF₂ levels. It is treated with nonsteroid antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in Western medicine. Since NSAIDs produce many side effects, Chinese medicinal therapy is considered as a feasible alternative medicine. Adlay (Coix lachryma-jobi L. var. ma-yuen Stapf.) has been used as a traditional Chinese medicine for treating dysmenorrhea. However, the relationship between smooth muscle contraction and adlay extracts remains veiled. Therefore, we investigated this relationship in the rat uterus by measuring uterine contraction activity and recording the intrauterine pressure. We studied the in vivo and in vitro effects of the methanolic extracts of adlay hull (AHM) on uterine smooth muscle contraction. The extracts were fractionated using four different solvents: water, 1-butanol, ethyl acetate, and n-hexane; the four respective fractions were AHM-Wa, AHM-Bu, AHM-EA, and AHM-Hex. AHM-EA and its subfractions (175 µg/ml) inhibited uterine contractions induced by PGF₂, the Ca²⁺ channel activator Bay K 8644, and high K⁺ in a concentration-dependent manner in vitro. AHM-EA also inhibited PGF₂-induced uterine contractions in vivo; furthermore, 375 µg/ml of AHM-EA inhibited the Ca²⁺-dependent uterine contractions. Thus 375 µg/ml of AHM-EA consistently suppressed the increases in intracellular Ca²⁺ concentrations induced by PGF₂ and high K⁺. We also demonstrated that naringenin and quercetin are the major pure chemical components of AHM-EA that inhibit PGF₂-induced uterine contractions. Thus AHM-EA probably inhibited uterine contraction by blocking external Ca²⁺ influx, leading to a decrease in intracellular Ca²⁺ concentration. Thus adlay hull may be considered as a feasible alternative therapeutic agent for dysmenorrhea.

uterus; smooth muscle; dysmenorrhea; Coix lachryma-jobi