Effects of Onkyung-tang on Surgically Induced Endometriosis in Rats

온경탕(溫經湯)이 자궁내막증 유발 백서에 미치는 영향

Purpose : Endometriosis has been thought to be related with blood stasis in uterus. Onkyung-tang is a herb which has effectiveness of activating blood, warmy and regulating mensturation, therefore in the present study, the effects of Onkyung-tang on endometriosis were investigated. Methods : The endometrial tissue was autografted to Rat's small intestine. Rats with surgically induced endometriosis was orally administerd with Onkyung-tang for 40 days. Size of ectopic uterine implants at the serosal wall and concentration of progesterone, estradiol, $TNF-{\alpha}$ and IL-2, 4, 6, 10 in serum were examined and compared with the control group. Results : The size of ectopic uterine implants of treated group was much smaller than that of control group. The concentration of estradiol, $TNF-{\alpha}$ and IL-4 level were significantly decreased in experimental group compared with the control group. IL-10 level was significantly increased in experimental group compared with the control group. There was no significant difference in progesterone, IL-2, 6 level in experimental group and control group as well. Conclusion : My data suggest that Onkyung-tang reduce the size of ectopic uterine implants at the serosal wall and inhibit the growth of ectopic uterine implants. Judging from the above results, it can be suggested that Onkyung-tang should be a useful agent for inhibiting the proliferation of uterine endometrial tissue.