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Nutraceuticals for Women’s Reproductive Health and Disorders

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Special Issue Information
Keywords
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A special issue of Nutrients (ISSN 2072-6643). This special issue belongs to the section "Nutrition in Women".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 February 2023) | Viewed by 14112

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Md Soriful Islam

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Division of Reproductive Sciences & Women’s Health Research, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Interests: nutraceuticals; dietary products; natural compounds; reproductive disorders; cancers; inflammation and fibrosis; uterine fibroids; growth factor and proges-terone signaling; small molecule inhibitors
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Most Mauluda Akhtar

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Bioinformatics, Asian University for Women, 20/A M. M. Ali Road, Chattogram 4000, Bangladesh
Interests: uterine fibroids; phytochemicals; natural medicine; reproductive cancers; in-flammation and angiogenesis; fibrosis; bioinformatics; epigenetics; microRNA

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Nutraceuticals are defined as any substances that are foods or part of foods, with health benefits, in addition to the basic nutritional value found in foods. Over the last few years, nutraceuticals attracted considerable interest due to their potential nutritional content, safety, and therapeutic effects. Nutraceuticals have shown to regulate a plethora of biological processes, including hypoxia, oxidative stress, inflammation, cell proliferation, fibrosis, apoptosis, cellular senecesce, angiogenesis, migration, and, metabolism etc. Therefore, they may be used to improve health, and prevent chronic inflammatory diseases.

Reproductive health refers to the condition of female reproductive system that include ovary, uterus and hormone-producing glands (such as pituitary gland in the brain). Women of reproductive age experience with various gynecological health and disorders such as menstruation and menstrual irregularities, dysmenorrhoea, urinary tract health, bacterial vaginosis, vaginitis and, infertility. Women also experience with endometrial, ovarian, and cervical cancers, as well as uterine fibroids, polycystic ovary syndrome, adenomyomsis, and endometriosis. The use of nutraceuticals is increasing dramatically for reproductive disorders because there is growing evidence of clinical benefits. However, the detail studies are needed to validate their efficacy, mechanisms of action, and adverse effects. The purpose of this special issue is to collect manuscripts on the role of nutraceuticals in women’s health, and associated disorders.

Dr. Md Soriful Islam
Dr. Most Mauluda Akhtar
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

nutraceuticals
food ingredients
dietary supplements
dietary phytochemicals
bioactive compounds
prevention and treatment
infertility
endometrial cancers
ovarian cancers, cervical cancers
uterine fibroids
inflammatory diseases
endometriosis
adenomyosis

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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13 pages, 1424 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Assessing the Hepatic Safety of Epigallocatechin Gallate (EGCG) in Reproductive-Aged Women

by Hiba Siblini, Ayman Al-Hendy, James Segars, Frank González, Hugh S. Taylor, Bhuchitra Singh, Ainna Flaminia, Valerie A. Flores, Gregory M. Christman, Hao Huang, Jeremy J. Johnson and Heping Zhang

Nutrients 2023, 15(2), 320; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15020320 - 09 Jan 2023

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3358

Abstract

A similar abstract of the interim analysis was previously published in Fertility and Sterility. EPIGALLOCATECHIN GALLATE (EGCG) FOR TREATMENT OF UNEXPLAINED INFERTILITY ASSOCIATED WITH UTERINE FIBROIDS (PRE-FRIEND TRIAL): EARLY SAFETY ASSESSMENT. Uterine fibroids are the most common cause of unexplained infertility in reproductive-aged women. Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a green tea catechin, has demonstrated its ability to shrink uterine fibroids in prior preclinical and clinical studies. Hence, we developed an NICHD Confirm-funded trial to evaluate the use of EGCG for treating women with fibroids and unexplained infertility (FRIEND trial). Prior to embarking on that trial, we here conducted the pre-FRIEND study (NCT 04177693) to evaluate the safety of EGCG in premenopausal women. Specifically, our aim was to assess any adverse effects of EGCG alone or in combination with an ovarian stimulator on serum liver function tests (LFTs) and folate level. In this randomized, open-label prospective cohort, participants were recruited from the FRIEND-collaborative clinical sites: Johns Hopkins University, University of Chicago, University of Illinois at Chicago, and Yale University. Thirty-nine women, ages ≥18 to ≤40 years, with/without uterine fibroids, were enrolled and randomized to one of three treatment arms: 800 mg of EGCG daily alone, 800 mg of EGCG daily with clomiphene citrate 100 mg for 5 days, or 800 mg of EGCG daily with Letrozole 5 mg for 5 days. No subject demonstrated signs of drug induced liver injury and no subject showed serum folate level outside the normal range. Hence, our data suggests that a daily dose of 800 mg of EGCG alone or in combination with clomiphene citrate or letrozole (for 5 days) is well-tolerated and is not associated with liver toxicity or folate deficiency in reproductive-aged women. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutraceuticals for Women’s Reproductive Health and Disorders)

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17 pages, 3124 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Kelulut Honey Improves Folliculogenesis, Steroidogenic, and Aromatase Enzyme Profiles and Ovarian Histomorphology in Letrozole-Induced Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Rats

by Datu Agasi Mohd Kamal, Siti Fatimah Ibrahim, Azizah Ugusman, Siti Sarah Mohamad Zaid and Mohd Helmy Mokhtar

Nutrients 2022, 14(20), 4364; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14204364 - 18 Oct 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2078

Abstract

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) has been linked to aberrant folliculogenesis and abnormalities in the aromatase enzyme (Cyp19a1) and the steroidogenic enzyme, 17-alpha-hydroxylase (Cyp17a1) expression. It has been demonstrated that Kelulut honey (KH) improves both female and male reproductive system anomalies in animal studies. Here, we examined the effects of isolated and combined KH, metformin, and clomiphene in improving folliculogenesis, aromatase, and steroidogenic enzyme profiles and ovarian histomorphology in letrozole-induced PCOS rats. Letrozole (1 mg/kg/day) was administered to female Sprague–Dawley (SD) rats for 21 days to induce PCOS. PCOS rats were subsequently divided into six experimental groups: untreated, treatment with metformin (500 mg/kg/day), clomiphene (2 mg/kg/day), KH (1 g/kg/day), combined KH (1 g/kg/day) and metformin (500 mg/kg/day), and combined KH (1 g/kg/day) and clomiphene (2 mg/kg/day). All treatments were given orally for 35 days. We found that KH was comparable with clomiphene and metformin in improving the expression of Cyp17a1 and Cyp19a1, apart from enhancing folliculogenesis both histologically and through the expression of folliculogenesis-related genes. Besides, the combination of KH with clomiphene was the most effective treatment in improving the ovarian histomorphology of PCOS rats. The effectiveness of KH in restoring altered folliculogenesis, steroidogenic, and aromatase enzyme profiles in PCOS warrants a future clinical trial to validate its therapeutic effect clinically. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutraceuticals for Women’s Reproductive Health and Disorders)

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Review

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28 pages, 2240 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceReview

Green Tea and Benign Gynecologic Disorders: A New Trick for An Old Beverage?

by Dana Hazimeh, Gaelle Massoud, Maclaine Parish, Bhuchitra Singh, James Segars and Md Soriful Islam

Nutrients 2023, 15(6), 1439; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15061439 - 16 Mar 2023

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 7769

Abstract

Green tea is harvested from the tea plant Camellia sinensis and is one of the most widely consumed beverages worldwide. It is richer in antioxidants than other forms of tea and has a uniquely high content of polyphenolic compounds known as catechins. Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), the major green tea catechin, has been studied for its potential therapeutic role in many disease contexts, including pathologies of the female reproductive system. As both a prooxidant and antioxidant, EGCG can modulate many cellular pathways important to disease pathogenesis and thus has clinical benefits. This review provides a synopsis of the current knowledge on the beneficial effects of green tea in benign gynecological disorders. Green tea alleviates symptom severity in uterine fibroids and improves endometriosis through anti-fibrotic, anti-angiogenic, and pro-apoptotic mechanisms. Additionally, it can reduce uterine contractility and improve the generalized hyperalgesia associated with dysmenorrhea and adenomyosis. Although its role in infertility is controversial, EGCG can be used as a symptomatic treatment for menopause, where it decreases weight gain and osteoporosis, as well as for polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutraceuticals for Women’s Reproductive Health and Disorders)

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