Researches of Pueraria Mirifica

The Pueraria family with special interest in Pueraria Mirifica

The genus Pueraria is not abundant in the literature, although there seems to be some correlation between the different species that is encouraging to the phytochemist.

Pueraria mirifica, a phytoestrogen-rich herb, prevents bone loss in orchidectomized rats

Objective: Estrogens and estrogen-like substances have been reported to play an important role in male bone homeostasis and to prevent bone loss. Pueraria mirifica (Leguminosae), a Thai herbal plant, containing a high amount of phytoestrogens was a choice of interest for this study.We examined the effects of crude P. mirifica on bone loss and influences on reproductive organs in male rats.

Methods: Using fully mature and orchidectomized (ORX) rats, the effects of 0, 10, 100 and 1000 mg/kg B.W./day of Pueraria Mirifica and 0.1 mg/kg B.W./day of 17 alpha-ethinylestradiol (a positive control) were evaluated on bone mineral density (BMD) and bone mineral content (BMC) measured with a peripheral Quantitative Computerized Tomography (pQCT) densitometry.

Results: Bone loss in trabecular and cortical bones of the various sites of axial bone (fourth lumbar vertebral body) and long bones (tibia and femur) after ORX was dose-dependently prevented by P. mirifica. The effects were specific on bone types and sites. The weights of the accessory sex organs, seminal vesicle and ventral prostrate gland, which significantly decreased after 3-month of ORX, were not altered by P. mirifica.

Conclusion: The results suggest that P. mirifica treatment may be useful to prevent an osteoporosis in elderly hypogonadism subjects without influences on reproductive organs.

Long-Term Treatment Effects of Pueraria Mirifica Phytoestrogens on Parathyroid Hormone and Calcium Levels in Aged Menopausal Cynomolgus Monkeys

To determine the effect of Pueraria Mirifica (PM) on serum parathyroid hormone (PTH) and calcium elvels on aged menopausal monkeys (Macaca fascicularis), subjects were treated with 10, 100, or 1,000 mg/day of PM. Blood samples were collected every 5 days for 30, 90 and 60 days during pre-treatment, treatment, and post-treatment periods, respectively. Sera were assayed for PTH, estradiol, and calcium levels. PM-1,000 had the strongest effect on the decrease in PTH (0.001<P≤0.05) and calcium levels (0.001<P≤0.03) during the treatment period. PTH levels remained low for the first 15 days of the post-treatment period (0.01≤P≤0.05). PM-10 induced a significant decrease in PTH level on day (P=0.02) during the treatment period and significant decrease in calcium level on day 75 (P<0.01). There were no changes in serum PTH and calcium levels throughout the study period in the PM-100 group. Estradiol levels decreased significantly during the treatment period in all treatment groups. The results suggest that long-term treatment with 1,000mg/day of PM decreases serum PTH and calcium levels in aged menopausal monkeys, indicating that PM ameliorates bone loss caused by estrogen deficiency.