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Horm Metab Res 2004; 36(2): 86-91
DOI: 10.1055/s-2004-814216
Original Basic
© Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart · New York

Induction of Growth Hormone Release by Pueraria thunbergiana BENTH.

D.  Y.  Jung1 , H.  Ha1 , C.  Kim1
  • 1Drug Research and Development Team, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Seoul, Korea
Further Information

Publication History

Received 8 October 2002

Accepted after revision 19 August 2003

Publication Date:
05 March 2004 (online)

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Abstract

Puerariae Radix (PR), Puerariae Flos (PF), and Puerariae Surculus (PS) as well as their constituents were tested for induction of rat growth hormone (rGH) release by both rat pituitary cell culture and in vivo experimentation in order to develop them to novel drugs. Through a calibration curve of the rGH released by addition of rat growth hormone-releasing hormone (rGHRH) to rat pituitary cells, the 70 % ethanol extracts of PR and PS increased rGH release by about 1.6 and 1.7 times as high, respectively, as the control group (264.6 ± 13.6 pM). However, each puerarin type as a representative constituent of PR in Korea Pharmacopeia (KP) and tectorigenin and an important ingredient of PF were twice as effective as in the control group. The acid hydrolysate of Puerariae Surculus (HPS) increased rGH release concentration-dependently, and its EC50 was approximately 10.4 µg/ml. The Tmax value for rGH after injection of 20 µg/kg of rGHRH was 10 - 30 min, while the Cmax value was increased by approximately 12-fold compared to the control group (198.2 ± 25.0 pM) and the AUC0 - 45 was increased to 10 times the level of the control group (10,840.9 ± 845.5 min. pM). On the other hand, Tmax for the HPS was 60 min, while Cmax was increased approximately to 5.8 fold compared to control (244.1 ± 36.4 pM). Cmax for puerarin was 1,028.6 ± 502.7 pM, that is, approximately 5.2 times as high as the control level. However, tectorigenin (20 µg/kg) was of no statistical significance. Therefore, we suggest that the HPS and puerarin act either on GH secretagogue receptors or on GHRH receptor of somatotrophin as possible agonists or an inhibitor on somatostatin receptor to release rGH, respectively.

Key words

Growth hormone (GH) - Growth hormone releasing hormone (GHRH) - Growth hormone secretagogue (GHS) - Pituitary cells - Puerariae Radix - Puerariae Surculus - Tectorigenin

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C. Kim, Ph. D. 

Drug Research and Development Team · Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine ·

129-11 Chungdam-dong, Kangnam-ku · Seoul, 135-100 · Korea

Phone: + 82 (2) 3442-1994-223, + 82 (2) 3442-2120

Fax: + 82 (2) 3442-0220, + 82 (2) 3442-1030

Email: skim@kiom.re.kr