Endocrine Abstracts

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is an endocrinal disorder afflicting women mainly during their childbearing age. The symptoms of PCOS are irregular menstrual cycles, weight gain, subfertility, and infertility. However, since the etiology is as yet unclear, the management and treatment are still not well established. Recently, natural substances have been used for PCOS therapy. Ecklonia cava is a well-known natural substance that attenuates inflammation, allergy and cancer. In this study, we investigated the effects of Ecklonia cava extract in PCOS rats. When Letrozole-induced PCOS rats were exposed to the Ecklonia cava extract, the regular estrus cycle was restored, similar to that in placebo rats. Hormone levels, including testosterone, estrogen, LH, FSH and AMH, recovered to their normal states. Histological analysis revealed that the polycystic ovary symptoms significantly decreased in the Ecklonia cava treated rats, comparable to normal ovaries. At the transcriptional and translational levels, Cyp19a1, Ar, Esr1, Esr2 and aromatase were remarkably increased in the Ecklonia cava treated PCOS rats than those of Letrozole-induced PCOS rats. These results suggest that Ecklonia cava extract inhibits the symptoms of polycystic ovary syndrome through regulating imbalanced hormonal levels and irregular ovarian cycles in Letrozole-induced female rats.