Effects of Marantodes pumilum (Kacip Fatimah) on vaginal pH and expression of vacoular ATPase and carbonic anhydrase in the vagina of sex-steroid deficient female rats

Background: In sex-steroid deficiency, increased in the pH of vaginal fluid is due to low estrogen levels. Hypothesis: Consumption of Marantodes pumilum leaves helps to ameliorate increased in vaginal fluid pH in sex-steroid deficient condition. Purpose: To investigate changes in vaginal fluid pH an...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Giribabu, Nelli, Karim, Kamarulzaman, Salleh, Naguib
Format: Article
Published: Elsevier 2018
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Online Access:http://eprints.um.edu.my/22022/
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.phymed.2018.05.018
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Institution: Universiti Malaya
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Summary:Background: In sex-steroid deficiency, increased in the pH of vaginal fluid is due to low estrogen levels. Hypothesis: Consumption of Marantodes pumilum leaves helps to ameliorate increased in vaginal fluid pH in sex-steroid deficient condition. Purpose: To investigate changes in vaginal fluid pH and expression of proteins that participate in pH changes i.e vacoular (V)-ATPases and carbonic anhydrases (CA) in the vagina following M. pumilum leaves consumption. Methods: Ovariectomized adult female rats were treated orally with M. pumilum leaves extract (MPE) at 100, 250 and 500 mg/kg.b.w and estradiol at 0.2 µg/kg/b.w for 28 days. At the end of the treatment, vaginal fluid pH was measured in anesthetised rats by using micropH probe. Following sacrificed, levels of V-ATPase and CA proteins and mRNAs in the vagina were identified by Western blotting and real-time PCR, respectively. Protein distribution was visualized by immunohistochemistry. Results: Administration of MPE causes the pH of vaginal fluid to decrease and expression and distribution of vaginal V-ATPase A & B and CA II, III, IX, XII and XIII to increase. Conclusions: The decrease in vaginal fluid pH following MPE treatment suggested that this herb has potential to be used to ameliorate vaginal fluid pH changes in sex-steroid deficient condition.