Objective: To investigate the effects of cryptotanshinone (CRY), an active component of Chinese medicine, on ovarian androgen production, insulin resistance (IR), and glucose metabolism in mice.
Design: Animal model and in vitro tissue model.
Setting: University-affiliated laboratory.
Animal(s): Mice.
Intervention(s): Ovarian IR was induced by dexamethasone (DEX) in vivo. Animals were randomized to receive CRY treatment for 3 days or not. Ovulation rates, serum steroid levels, and glucose uptake in ovaries were quantified, and proteins in the phosphatidylinositol 3-hydroxy kinase pathway were measured. In vitro ovarian IR was also induced by DEX for 3 days. Ovarian steroid hormone secretion and glucose uptake were measured, and the hormone-synthesizing enzymes were determined by semiquantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction.
Main outcome measure(s): Ovarian glucose uptake, in vivo ovulation rate, serum and culture medium steroid level, and molecular expression of phosphatidylinositol 3-hydroxy kinase and steroidogenic enzymes.
Result(s): Dexamethasone significantly increased ovulation rates in vivo and increased T and E2 production and decreased ovarian glucose uptake in vivo and in vitro. Cryptotanshinone significantly reduced ovulation rates in vivo and decreased T and estrogen production in vitro. Cryptotanshinone attenuated the inhibition of DEX on AKT2 and suppressed the up-regulation of CYP11 and CYP17 expression by DEX.
Conclusion(s): Cryptotanshinone reversed DEX-induced androgen excess and ovarian IR in mice through activation of insulin signaling and the regulation of glucose transporters and hormone-synthesizing enzymes. This suggests a potential role for CRY in treating the ovulatory dysfunction associated with PCOS.
Keywords: Chinese medicine; PCOS; cryptotanshinone; insulin resistance; ovary.
Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Inc.