Effects of Labisia pumila var alata extracts and estrogen replacement therapy on body weight gain, adipokine levels and uterus weight in ovariectomized rats

After menopause, women gain body weight. In this study we used an ovariectomized (OVX) rat model to investigate the change in body weight gain, uterus weight and plasma adipokine levels in response to a water extract of the plant Labisia pumila var alata (LP) or Estrogen Replacement Therapy (ERT) with conjugated equine estrogen. Eight-week-old OVX female Sprague-Dawley rats were administered orally with (LP) water extracts (10, 20 and 50mg/kg/day – LP10, LP20 and LP50 respectively) or ERT (0.625mg/kg/day) for 30 days. Sham-operated rats (Sham) and vehicle treated OVX rats served as controls. Animals (groups N=7–8) had food and water ad libitum during the experiment. OVX rats gained more body weight than Sham rats (74.5±3.7g vs. 56.9±3.6g, p<0.05). Treatment of OVX with LP50 or ERT significantly reduced the weight gain by 16.8% and 25.5%, respectively (p<0.05 for both). Plasma leptin level in OVX was decreased by 73% (p<0.05) when compared to Sham and restored to normal level when given LP extracts and ERT. Plasma resistin level in OVX group (14.95±0.46ng/ml) increased in comparison to Sham (10.56±1.22ng/ml), decreased in all LP10, LP20 and LP50 (8.27±1.07ng/ml, 6.08±1.51ng/ml and 4.86±1.91ng/ml respectively, p<0.05 for all) and reduced further in ERT (2.48±0.39ng/ml, p<0.05). However there was no significant change observed in adiponectin plasma levels among all groups. Furthermore, uterus to body weight ratio ERT significantly increased uterine weight. Our results suggest an experimental basis for a post-menopausal treatment with Labisia pumila var alata.

Acknowledgements: 1. Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Malaysia for funding this project. Grant no. 06–05–2002 2. Institute for Medical Research, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 3. Faculty of Chemical & Natural Resources Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Malaysia