Estrogenicity of glabridin in Ishikawa cells

PLoS One. 2015 Mar 27;10(3):e0121382. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0121382. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

Glabridin is an isoflavan from licorice root, which is a common component of herbal remedies used for treatment of menopausal symptoms. Past studies have shown that glabridin resulted in favorable outcome similar to 17β-estradiol (17β-E2), suggesting a possible role as an estrogen replacement therapy (ERT). This study aims to evaluate the estrogenic effect of glabridin in an in-vitro endometrial cell line -Ishikawa cells via alkaline phosphatase (ALP) assay and ER-α-SRC-1-co-activator assay. Its effect on cell proliferation was also evaluated using Thiazoyl blue tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. The results showed that glabridin activated the ER-α-SRC-1-co-activator complex and displayed a dose-dependent increase in estrogenic activity supporting its use as an ERT. However, glabridin also induced an increase in cell proliferation. When glabridin was treated together with 17β-E2, synergistic estrogenic effect was observed with a slight decrease in cell proliferation as compared to treatment by 17β-E2 alone. This suggest that the combination might be better suited for providing high estrogenic effects with lower incidences of endometrial cancer that is associated with 17β-E2.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Cell Line
  • Cell Proliferation / drug effects*
  • Drug Synergism
  • Estradiol / administration & dosage
  • Estrogen Receptor alpha / metabolism
  • Estrogen Replacement Therapy
  • Estrogens / metabolism*
  • Glycyrrhiza / chemistry
  • Humans
  • Isoflavones / administration & dosage*
  • Isoflavones / chemistry
  • Menopause / drug effects*
  • Phenols / administration & dosage*
  • Phenols / chemistry

Substances

  • ESR1 protein, human
  • Estrogen Receptor alpha
  • Estrogens
  • Isoflavones
  • Phenols
  • Estradiol
  • glabridin

Grants and funding

This work was supported by Exploratory Research Grants Scheme (ERGS/1/2012/STG08/TAYLOR/03/2) to YYC, and Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS/2/2010/SKK/TAYLOR/03/1) to YYC. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.