Evaluation of the isoflavones and estrogen effects on the rat adrenal

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the morphometry and the gene expression of Ki-67, VEGF and caspase 3 and the stress oxidative in the adrenal gland of ovariectomized rats treated with estrogen or isoflavones. We used 15 Wistar rats ovariectomized treated with isoflavones or estrogen during 30 days. At the end of the treatment, the left adrenal gland was removed for subsequent histological studies and the right was used to evaluate gene expression of angiogenesis (VEGF-A), cell proliferation (Ki-67), apoptose (caspase 3 clivated) and oxidative stress. Treatment with estrogen showed a largest increase in the layers of the adrenal cortex than with isoflavones. These hypertrofic effects agree with higher expression elevation of Ki67 and VEGF, which did not occur with the caspase 3, indicating that isoflavones have great proliferative effect on the adrenal gland. Similar results were also observed on superoxide quantification show that isoflavone has a protective effect against oxidative stress. Our results indicate positively the trophic therapeutic potential of isoflavones has a protective effect and can contribute to the development of effective therapies to decrease the symptoms of menopause.

Chinese abstract

本研究的目的是评估经雌激素或异黄酮治疗的被切除卵巢的大鼠肾上腺Ki-67、VEGF和caspase 3的形态学和基因表达效果以及氧化应激能力。研究选择15只被切除卵巢的Wistar大鼠, 经过30天的异黄酮或雌激素治疗。治疗结束后, 取大鼠左侧肾上腺进行随后的组织学研究, 右侧肾上腺则用于评估血管生成（VEGF-A）、细胞增殖（Ki-67）、细胞凋亡（caspase 3）和氧化应激能力。与异黄酮相比, 经雌激素治疗的大鼠肾上腺皮质层显著增生。肥大效应与Ki67和VEGF的高表达相一致, caspase 3则无此表现, 这表明异黄酮对肾上腺具有明显增殖效果。超氧化物定量也观察到类似结果, 这表明异黄酮通过抵抗氧化应激而产生保护作用。我们的研究结果明确表示, 异黄酮的营养治疗具有潜在的保护作用, 有助于发掘缓解绝经期症状的有效治疗方法。

Keywords:

• Adrenal
• isoflavone
• estrogen
• menopause
• oxidative stress

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflict of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this paper.

Funding

This work was supported by the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico - CNPq process number 130247/2015-4.