Research Article | Volume: 2 Issue: 8, August 2012

Estrogenic activity of Citrus medica L. leaves growing in Egypt

Taha S. El-Alfy Mona H. Hetta Nemat Z. Yassin Rehab F. Abdel Rahman Esraa M. Kadry   

Open Access    DOI: 10.7324/JAPS.2012.2831

Abstract

The estrogenic activity of petroleum ether extract of Citrus medica L. leaves as well as the chemical constituents responsible for the biological activity was studied. The petroleum ether extract proved to retain high estrogenic activity in immature female rats. The extract was saponified and its components (saponifiable part 23% and the unsaponifiable matter 77%) were identified using GC/MS technique. The extract proved to be safe (LD50 < 2g/kg.bw). Oral administration of petroleum ether extract of C. medica in ovariectomized immature female Wistar rats for 7 days in a dose of 400 mg/kg resulted in significant increase in the uterine weight (g) (1.7±0.11) when compared with ovariectomized control rats (1.3±0.07). GC/MS analysis of both saponifiable and unsaponifiable matters revealed the presence of thirty three components (28 hydrocarbons and 5 sterols) in the unsaponifiable fraction, the major hydrocarbon was n-Heneicosane (16.7%) while the major sterol was β-sitosterol (4.03%) and 15 components in the saponifiable matter it's major component was hexadecanoic acid (19.93%). As a conclusion petroleum ether extract of Citrus medica L. leaves possess a significant estrogenic activity.


Keyword:     Citrus medicaGC/MStoxicityestrogenic effect.


Copyright:The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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