--
Emilio Porro
Como _Italy
FROM ORGGYN:COM wednesdey 20-12-2006
http://www.orgyn.com/en/news/2006/Week_50/Day_4/Black_cohosh_allevia.asp?C=33379390719072106481
Black cohosh alleviates hot flashes via opioid system
Source: Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 2006; Advance online
publication
Investigating the activity of black cohosh extracts in the opioid receptor
system in Chinese hamster ovary cells.
Scientists have outlined the mechanisms by which the herb black cohosh may
alleviate hot flashes in menopausal women.
Despite the popularity of the herb among menopausal women with climacteric
symptoms such as hot flashes, the biological mechanisms underlying the
activity of the herb remain unknown, the team says.
Mee-Ra Rhyu, from the University of Illinois, Chicago, USA, and colleagues
propose that the herb acts on human opiate receptors that play a role in the
regulation of body temperature.
They studied the activity of black cohosh extracts with the human mu-opiate
receptor (hMOR), expressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells.
Results showed that extracts of black cohosh combined with 100% methanol,
75% ethanol, and 40% 2-propanol displaced the specific binding of
[3H]DAMGO—a highly selective ligand for mu-opiate receptors—to hMOR.
"Opiates can therefore alter core temperature setting directly or
indirectly," the investigators said. "Striking similarities exist between
opiate withdrawal and menopausal hot flashes."
They conclude: "These results demonstrate for the first time that black
cohosh contains active principle(s) that activate hMOR, supporting its
beneficial role in alleviating menopausal symptoms."
Posted: 12 December 2006
© 2006 Current Medicine Group Ltd, a part of Springer Science+Business Media
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You wrote
>From: evsono@pipeline.com (art fougner, md)
>Reply-To: ob-gyn-l@obgyn.net
>To: Multiple recipients of list OB-GYN-L <ob-gyn-l@dns.obgyn.net>
>Subject: GEN: Black Cohosh Found Ineffective
>Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 15:14:35 -0600
>
>A new study in this week's Annals of Internal Medicine casts serious
>doubt on the efficacy of Black Cohosh as a treatment for menopausal
>symptoms.
>
>http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2734934
>
>Art
>
>--
>art fougner, md
>"May The Wings of Liberty Never Lose a Feather." - Jack Burton
