In this study Chinese herbs commonly used in the treatment of male infertility were investigated for relevant biochemical activity. Male factor infertility predominantly arises via barriers to, or defects in, spermatogenesis. The process of spermatogenesis is under strict endocrine control; in addition oxidative stress has been implicated in male infertility with significant levels of reactive oxygen species detected in 25% of infertile males. A total of 37 individual herbs and seven herb decoctions used in the treatment of male factor infertility were therefore tested for endocrine activity using a recombinant yeast based assay and antioxidant activity using the FRAP (ferric reducing antioxidant potential) assay. Individual herbs tested did not show androgenic properties, 20 showed strong and 10 weak anti-oestrogenic activity (per g of dried herb tamoxifen equivalents ranged from 1.18-1280.66 mg and 0.06-0.98 mg, respectively). Oestrogenic responses were elicited for two herbs (85.30-550 microg oestradiol equivalents/g dried herb), with seven and three herbs exhibiting a strong or weak anti-androgenic response (per g of dried herb DHT equivalents ranged from 1.54-66.78 mg and 0.17-0.32 mg), respectively. Of these 37 herbs, strong (15 herbs), intermediate (7 herbs) and weak/no (15 herbs) antioxidant activity was detected (ranging from 0.912-1.26; 0.6-0.88 and 0-0.468 microg ascorbate equivalent/mg dried herb, respectively). The seven decoctions (previously used to treat patients) tested elicited strong (5 herbs) and weak (2 herbs) anti-oestrogenic responses (per g of dried herb tamoxifen equivalents ranged from 1.14-13.23 mg and 0.22-0.26 mg, respectively), but not oestrogenic, androgenic nor anti-androgenic, consistent with their individual composition. With regard to antioxidant activity the following responses were recorded: three strong, three intermediate and one weak (ranging from 1.02-1.2; 0.72-0.76 and 0.44 microg ascorbate equivalent/mg dried herb, respectively). The prospects for introducing Chinese herbal treatments into the Western-based medicine are discussed.

中文翻译：

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用于治疗男性不育症的中药植物具有抗氧化和抗雌激素活性。

在这项研究中，对用于治疗男性不育症的中草药的相关生化活性进行了研究。男性因素不孕症主要是通过对精子发生的障碍或缺陷而引起的。精子发生过程在严格的内分泌控制下；此外，氧化应激与男性不育症有关，在25％的男性不育中检测到大量的活性氧。因此，使用基于重组酵母的检测方法测试了用于治疗男性因子不育症的总共37种草药和7种草药汤的内分泌活性，并使用FRAP（铁还原抗氧化剂潜力）检测了抗氧化活性。所测试的各种草药均未显示雄激素特性，20个显示出较强的抗雌激素活性，而10个显示出较弱的抗雌激素活性（每克干草药他莫昔芬当量的范围分别为1.18-1280.66 mg和0.06-0.98 mg）。两种草药引起雌激素反应（85.30-550微克雌二醇当量/克干草药），其中七种和三种草药表现出强或弱的抗雄激素反应（每克干草药DHT当量范围为1.54-66.78 mg和0.17） -0.32 mg）。在这37种草药中，检测到强（15种），中（7种）和弱/无（15种）的抗氧化活性（范围为0.912-1.26； 0.6-0.88和0-0.468 microg抗坏血酸当量/ mg干草药，分别）。测试的七种汤剂（以前用于治疗患者）引起强烈的（5种草药）和弱的（2种草药）抗雌激素反应（每克干草药他莫昔芬当量的范围为1。分别为14-13.23 mg和0.22-0.26 mg），但不是雌激素，雄激素或抗雄激素药物，与其各自的成分一致。关于抗氧化活性，记录了以下响应：三个强，三个中间和一个弱（分别为1.02-1.2； 0.72-0.76和0.44微克抗坏血酸当量/毫克干草药）。讨论了将中草药引入西药的前景。