Estrogenic activity of leguminosae species in korea using mcf-7 cells

Abstract

? Leguminosae plants are known for its phytoestrogen constituents which play a major role in the prevention of oste-oporosis, cancer and heart disease. In this study, the estrogenic activity of 158 samples from 58 species, 3 subspecies and 10 varieties of Leguminosae plants growing in Korea was evaluated. An estrogen, 17β-estradiol was used as a reference com-pound, and the potency of each sample was expressed in relative efficacy (%) compared to that of the reference by a reporter gene assay using MCF-7 cells. As results, the estrogenic activity of methanolic extracts of Phaseolus vulgaris var. humilis, Sophora flavescens, Lespedeza × robusta, Indigofera pseudotinctoria, Maackia amurensis, Glycine soja, Wisteria floribunda, Robinia pseudoacacia, Astragalus sinicus, Pueraria lobata, Lespedeza maximowiczii var. tomentella, Trifolium repens and Cro-talaria sessiliflora showed similar to or higher at 100 ?g/ml than the positive control at 10 nM. These findings can be a potential evidence for developing estrogen alternatives resolving various types of menopause symptoms with information on proper har-vest season and usage plant part. To the best of our knowledge, the estrogenic activity of Lespedeza × robusta, Indigofera pseudotinctoria, Wisteria floribunda, Robinia pseudoacacia and Lespedeza maximowiczii var. tomentella is reported for the first time in this study. ? 2021, Korean Society of Pharmacognosy. All rights reserved.