Ction was superior in upregulating expression of ERa and b. TG-decoction increased hypothalamic SOD and T-AOC levels and decreased MDAlevels and mitochondrial damage in hypothalamic neurons. Conclusions: TG-decoction balances female hormones similarly to conjugated estrogens but less effectively. However, it is superior in up regulating ERa and b and exhibits antioxidative antiaging activities. Whilst it shares similar effects with estrogen, TG-decoction also seems to have distinctive and more complex functions and activities.Background Estrogen therapy is regarded as standard treatment for the menopausal syndrome, which is caused by rapid decrease and fluctuation of female hormones [1]. However, estrogen substitution is also associated with side effects including endometrial hyperplasia, increased risk* Correspondence: [email protected] 1 Gynecology Department, Shanghai Yueyang Integrated Traditioanl Chinese Medicine and Western Medicine Hospital affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Gan He Road 110, Shanghai, China Full list of author information is available at the end of the articleof certain cancer types (breast and ovarian cancer and endometrial carcinoma), liver abnormalities, and hematological adverse effects (coronary heart disease, stroke and venous thromboembolism) [2-7]. Recently, alternative therapies using natural products with milder efficacy but fewer side effects have been studied, herb mixtures of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) being one such alternative therapy studies. Ti Gng Tng (TG-decoction) meaning “decoction which regulates PubMed ID:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27597769 body balances in menopause”, is among?2011 Xu et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Xu et al. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2011, 11:137 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6882/11/Page 2 ofthese Chinese herb mixtures, and has been used to treat symptoms of menopause in China for more than 30 years. According to the TCM theory, the menopausal syndrome is caused by kidney-liver weakness-based yinyang imbalance and organ disharmony [8]. TG-decoction consists of 10 herbs (Table 1) and is composed to strengthen kidney and liver function, to nourish deficient essence in organs, to disperse excessive fire from the body, and finally to balance yin and yang. In conventional medicine, this alternative rationale is difficult to be explained scientifically although conventional medicine and TCM share a common understanding of pathological mechanisms of menopause to be an aging-related disorder with decreasing estradiol (E 2 ) levels. E2 SB 202190 web contributes to activate the antioxidant defense systems, scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS) and thereby reduces aging-related damage in mitochondria, a key organelle in the development of aging-associated cellular damage [9,10]. Oxidative stress in the process of aging particularly affects the brain due to its high metabolic rate and reduced capacity for restoration compared to other organs [11]. Empirically and as studies have proven, TG-decoction is especially effective for treatment of hot flashes, sleep disturbance and emotional instability during menopause, with success rates of 66-90 [12]. It is known that TGdecoction elevates E2 and lowers foll.
