• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.104-111
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• 1997

The traditional herbal medicine, Jackyakgamcho-tang(JGT), was reported to decrease serum testosterone levels and make pregnancy possibel in anovulatory woman and rat. JGT contains Paeoniae Radix(PR) and Glycyrrhizae Radix(GR) in equal amount. This study was designed to investigate the effect of JGT and its components(PR, GR, paeoniflorin and glycyrrhizin) on uterine and ovarian responses, follicular development, and estrogen secretion in the immature rat. The samples(water extracts of JGT, PR, GR; pure compound of paeoniflorin and glycyrrhizin) were administered orally to rats from the 21th day of age to the 28th or 30th days of age for 7 or 9 days. JGT(400mg/kg) and PR(100mg/kg, 200mg/kg) treatments significantly increased serum estradiol above levels in control rats, but both GR and glycyrrhizin had no effect on this parameter. Gross observation and histological analysis revealed that an increased number of growing follicules was observed in the ovaries of JGT and PR treated rat. However the lutenized follicles and ova present in the oviducts were not observed in all rats except one treated with estrogen as a positive control. These results indicate that JGT stimulates the estrogen production and follicular maturation in the immature rat and PR is the main component to induce such reaction.