The Dayak onion may help improve lipid profiles and uterine wall strength in ovariectomized rats

An Indonesian experiment assessed the effects of Dayak onion extract on female ovariectomized rats in an animal model of menopause. The results showed that the extract was able to improve the lipid profiles and the uterine wall of the animals in much the same way as tamoxifen.

For this study, the researchers received the support of the Universitas Indonesia. They published their findings in the OnLine Journal of Biological Sciences.

• Menopause causes estrogen levels to go down. This causes biochemical, physiological, and structural changes in the bodies of women that affect their health and their organs.
• Dayak onion has eleuterinol, a natural substance that can serve as a selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM). SERM can reverse some of the negative effects of low estrogen levels.
• A rat model of menopause was constructed using female rats. The rats were divided into a sham group, an ovariectomy group, a tamoxifen group, and three Dayak onion extract groups
• Save for the sham group, all of the rats were ovariectomized in order to induce hypoestrogen. The sham and ovariectomy groups did not receive any treatment, the tamoxifen group received the SERM drug, and each Dayak onion group received different doses of extract.
• In another ovariectomy model using mice, the animals were given three doses of tamoxifen or Dayak onion extract. The uterine weight for the animals that received the extract were lower than their counterparts that were given tamoxifen.

The researchers concluded that Dayak onion could serve as a natural-based SERM alternative to tamoxifen.

Read the full text of the study at this link.

For more articles about the benefits of eating onion, visit Herbs.news.

Journal Reference:

Purnamasari A, Bahtiar A. EFFECT OF DAYAK ONION (ELEUTHERINE BULBOSA (MILL.) URB) ON UTERINE WALL AND LIPID PROFILES OF OVARIECTOMIZED RAT. OnLine Journal of Biological Sciences. 6 January 2018;18(1):1–6. DOI: 10.3844/ojbsci.2018.1.6