Help Interprete This Study-results: Andro- Or Estrogenic Effects?

LeeLemonoil

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The researchers tried to figure out the effects of oral ß-Ecdysterone on the skin of female only rats, becuase they wanted to see if ß-Ecdy might be a supplement for menopausal women that, according to their thinking, experience accelerated skin-aging due to loss of Estradiol/E2.

They used ovariectomized (OVX) rats to simulate for postmenopausal state. They also had an "intact" (ovaries not removed) group, one to be supplemented with E2 and 3 fo various dosages of Ecdysterone.

Skin parameters studied were:

Thickness epiermal layer - Thickness dermal layer - Thickness subcutaneous fat layer - Thickness subcutaneous muscle layer

from the study:

Results:

Epidermal thickness was lowest in the OVX animals, slightly higher in the E2-treated animals, and significantly higher in the Ecd-treated animals. Dermal thickness was lowest in the intact and E2-treated animals and highest in the Ecd-treated animals. The subcutaneous fat layer was thickest in the OVX animals, thinner in the intact animals, and intermediate in the Ecd-treated animals. The muscle layer was smallest in the OVX and intact animals and significantly larger in the E2- and Ecd-treated animals. The number of proliferating cell nuclear antigen antibody-positive cells was lowest in OVX controls and significantly higher in all other groups.

Conclusions:The Ecd-induced increases in epidermal and dermal thickness are suggestive of functional changes of the skin. The decreased amounts of subcutaneous fat in the E2- and Ecd-treated animals point to either a fat catabolic or an antianabolic effect. The ovariectomy-induced decrease in subcutaneous musculature was prevented by Ecd but not by E2. The stimulatory effects of Ecd on epidermal and dermal thickness and the muscle-increasing effects in the skin of OVX rats may indicate functional changes

and :
Try ecdysteroids for younger skin and more muscle mass
with graphics


I find the results hard to interprete becuase Ecdysterone has for all 4 researched categories different effects to the other rat-states, sometimes hinting to a more "androgenic" sometimes possibly to an "estrogenic" canonical effect:

Epidermal thickness seems roughly the same in all rat-groups and is not so much a trait of aging skin anyway.
Dermal thickness though was higher in Ecdy-groups than in all others. Intriguingly, E2 group had the thinnest dermal thickness, even thinner than E2. Is this an anti-aging sign of E2 and would Ecdystrone thus accelerate skin-aging? (Dermal thickness maybe caused by unwanted collagenous tissue?). Or is ist vice versa?

Subcutaneous fat was clearly higher in OVX-rats and lowest in E2. This seems counterintuitive - or it means that OVX is highly pathological state with tendency for lipogenesis and that E2-treated rats have not such a drastic aging effect and retain normal or not overly reduced capacity of generating fat-layer. Some E2 is surely needed in female skin, male skin as well?
Ecdysterone had the thickest fat layer. Could be either abnormal/pathological or a real anti-age/rejuvenating effect.

Ecdysterone-groups had the thckst subcoutaneous muscle layer, hinting at more "andor" effects. E2 and OVX-groups were lowest. Subcutaneous muscle surely are beneficial?

The researchers themselves fail to come to a consistet conclusion, as stressed by the sentence in red. Why woud fat-reduction be antianabolic?
Pls share some ideas or how you interprete the effects of ß-Ecdysterone.
 
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LeeLemonoil

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Any idea on why a " decrease in seminal vesicular weight and an increase in testicular weight suggests a possible anti-androgenic effect of 20-HE."
Is Testicular hypertrophy really an anti-androgeic sign?

20-Hydroxyecdysone attenuates cardiac remodeling in spontaneously hypertensive rats.

Phungphong S1, Kijtawornrat A2, Chaiduang S1, Saengsirisuwan V1, Bupha-Intr T3.
Author information
Abstract

BACKGROUND:
Ecdysteroids, a group of steroid hormones found in insects and many plants, have been shown to prevent various changes in mammalian tissues after female sex hormone deprivation.

PURPOSE:
To examine whether an ecdysteroid, 20-hydroxyecdysone (20-HE), exhibits regulatory or protective roles in the cardiovascular system.

STUDY DESIGN/METHOD:
Blood pressure and cardiac function were evaluated in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) during and after daily treatment with 20-HE for six weeks.

RESULTS:
The progressive increase in systolic blood pressure with age in SHR rats was significantly lower in animals treated with either 5 or 10mg/kg body weight of 20-HE. However, treatment with 20-HE did not diminish the increase in diastolic pressure. Echocardiography after six weeks of treatment demonstrated that the left ventricular chamber of SHR rats treated with 20-HE was smaller than that of SHR controls, while contractility was not affected by 20-HE. Histological images also demonstrated a decrease in cardiomyocyte cross-sectional area in 20-HE treated groups. Interestingly, treatment with 20-HE caused a shift in cardiac myosin heavy chain towards more β-isoforms. SHR rats treated with 20-HE also exhibited a decrease in seminal vesicular weight and an increase in testicular weight, especially at a dose of 10mg/kg body weight. This finding suggests a possible anti-androgenic effect of 20-HE.

CONCLUSION:
Our finding reveal that 20-HE has a beneficial effect on reducing blood pressure and consequently preventing dilated cardiac hypertrophy in SHR rats.

S
 
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