Effects of berberine combined with quercetin on rats with polycystic ovary syndrome based on TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway
Objective To investigate the effects of berberine combined with quercetin on the rats with polycystic ovary syndrome(PCOS)based on toll-like recepter 4(TLR4)/nuclear-factor-KB(NF-κB)signaling pathway.Methods Thirty SD female rats were stratified by weight and then randomly divided into the blank control group,model control group,berberine group,quercetin group and berberine+quercetin group,6 rats in each group.The rats conducted daily subcutaneous injection of dehydroepiandrosterone(DHEA)for con-structing the PCOS model.After consecutive medication intervention for 21 d,the body weight and ovary mass of the rats in each group were weighed,and the hematoxylin-eosin(HE)staining was used for conducting the histological morphological observation on ovarian tissues.Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA)was used to detect the levels of serum luteinizing hormone(LH),follicle stimulating hormone(FSH),testosterone(T),interleukin-6(IL-6)and tumor cytokine alpha(TNF-α).The Western blot was used to determine the relative levels of TLR4 and NF-κB protein.Results Compared with the blank control group,the ovaries in the model control group were manifested by polycystoid,atretic follicles increase,body weight and ovarian mass increase(P＜0.01),the increase of LH,T,IL-6 and TNF-α levels(P＜0.01),decrease of FSH level(P＜0.01)and increase of TLR4 and p-NF-κBp65 protein expression levels(P＜0.01).Compared with the model control group,the ovarian cystic dilatation in the berberine group,quercetin group and the berberine+querce-tin group was decreased,the atretic follicles were decreased,the local ovarian morphology was similar to that of the blank control group.Compared with the model control group,the body weight in the berberine group was decreased(P＜0.05),the levels of LH,T,IL-6 and TNF-α in the berberine group and quercetin group were decreased(P＜0.01),the levels of TLR4 and p-NF-κBp65 protein expression were decreased(P＜0.01)and the ovarian mass was reduced(P＜0.01).But the FSH and the body weight level had no statistical differ-ence between the berberine group and quercetin group(P＞0.05).The body mass and ovarian mass in the berberine+quercetin group were decreased(P＜0.01),the FSH level was increased(P＜0.01),the LH,T,IL-6 and TNF-α levels were decreased(P＜0.01),and the TLR4 and p-NF-κBp65 protein expression levels were decreased(P＜0.01).Conclusion Berberine combined with quercetin may regulate the FSH,LH and T hormone secretion,decrease the release of IL-6 and TNF-α inflammatory factors and improve the ovarian func-tion possibly by inhibiting the TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway.
万方数据
维普
