Odd variation of 75 g oral glucose tolerance test results in a Japanese patient with polycystic ovary syndrome: a case report

Comparative pharmacokinetics and metabolites study of seven major bioactive components of Shaoyao-Gancao decoction in normal and polycystic ovary syndrome rats by ultra high pressure liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry

A simple and sensitive liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry method was developed for simultaneous quantification of paeoniflorin, albiflorin, oxypaeoniflorin, liquiritin, liquiritigenin, glycyrrhetinic acid, and glycyrrhizin in rat plasma after oral administration of Shaoyao-Gancao decoction, which is traditionally used in the treatment of polycystic ovary syndrome. The plasma samples were pretreated with methanol as precipitant. The method exhibited good linearity (correlation coefficient (R² ) > 0.99) with lower quantification limits of 0.595-4.69 ng/mL for all analytes. Intra- and interbatch precision, accuracy, recovery, and stability of the method were all within accepted criteria. The results showed that the pharmacokinetic behaviors of the seven compounds were altered in the pathological status of polycystic ovary syndrome. Furthermore, a total of 36 metabolites were structurally identified based on their accurate masses and fragment ions. The major metabolic pathway involves phase I metabolic reactions (such as hydroxylation), phase II metabolic reactions (such as sulfation and glucuronidation conjugation) as well as the combined multiple-step metabolism. This study is the first report on the pharmacokinetic and metabolic information of Shaoyao-Gancao decoction in both normal and model rats, which would provide scientific evidences for the bioactive chemical basis of herbal medicines and also promote the clinical application of Shaoyao-Gancao decoction for treating polycystic ovary syndrome.

Shaoyao-Gancao Decoction alleviated hyperandrogenism in a letrozole-induced rat model of polycystic ovary syndrome by inhibition of NF-κB activation

Shaoyao-Gancao Decoction (SGD) has been widely used for the treatment of gynopathy. The present study aimed to evaluate the therapeutic effect and potential mechanism of SGD on hyperandrogenism in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) rats. In the present work, SGD was orally administrated to the PCOS rats at the dose of 12.5, 25, and 50 g/kg/d for 14 consecutive days. UPLC–MS/MS was performed to identify the main chemical components of SGD. Body weight, ovarian weight, cystic dilating follicles, and serum levels of steroid hormones were tested to evaluate the therapeutic effect of SGD. In order to further clarify the underlying mechanism, we also measured mRNA and the protein levels of NF-κB, NF-κB p65, P-NF-κB p65, and IκB by RT-qPCR and Western blotting techniques. Our results showed that SGD treatment significantly alleviated hyperandrogenism in PCOS rats as evidenced by reduced serum levels of T and increased E₂ and FSH levels. In addition, SGD effectively reduced the phosphorylation of NF-κB p65 and increased the expression of IκB. Results of the present study demonstrated that SGD could ameliorate hyperandrogenism in PCOS rats, and the potential mechanism may relate to the NF-κB pathway.