Singh M, Singh N. Curcumin counteracts the proliferative effect of estradiol and induces apoptosis in cervical cancer cells. Shenouda, N. S., Zhou, C., Browning, J. D., Ansell, P. J., Sakla, M. S., Lubahn, D. B., and MacDonald, R. S. Phytoestrogens in common herbs regulate prostate cancer cell growth in vitro. Romiti, N., Tongiani, R., Cervelli, F., and Chieli, E. Effects of curcumin on P-glycoprotein in primary cultures of rat hepatocytes. In this review, Asian ginseng only had 1 study out of 7 demonstrating a positive effect on testosterone concentrations in men; however, its administration reduced cortisol concentrations in adults experiencing high work stress (78). In support of the findings of this review, a recent meta-analysis of clinical trials on fenugreek seed extract supplementation reported a significant increase in testosterone concentrations (68). Fenugreek seed extracts (positive findings in 4 out of 6 studies) and ashwagandha root and root/leaf extracts (positive findings in 3 out of 4 studies) demonstrated the most consistent increases in testosterone concentrations. 17β-Estradiol (E2) and 4-hydroxytamoxifen (4-HT) standards were used as the estrogen agonist and antagonist controls, respectively. Growing yeast cells (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) were stably transformed with either hER or hAR and a β-galactosidase reporter system and were exposed to different concentrations of compounds. The total RNA of different treatment groups was extracted using Trizol reagent (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA, USA), and their quantity and purity were measured by an ultra microspectrophotometer (Thermo Fisher Scientific, USA) based on the absorbance measurement at 260 and 280 nm. The cytotoxicity assay of control and treated cells was tested by MTT assay by the reported method23. The expressed protein was localized in nucleus and also weakly detected in cytoplasm of prostate epithelial cells. As shown in Figure 5c, AKR1C2 was expressed in prostate epithelial cells although the staining pattern was heterogeneous. Curcumin alters the expression of enzymes involved in testosterone metabolism. We also performed these analyses in another androgen receptor‐positive prostate cancer cell line, 22Rv1, and similar results were obtained (Figure 4B). We examined the protein expression of SRD5A1 and SRD5A2, which convert testosterone to DHT. Estrogen is vital for sperm development, but excess estradiol can decrease testosterone levels. Drawing from years of experience as a personal trainer, I’ve learned that supplementing with turmeric may contribute to factors optimizing testosterone. Now this may be due to Curcumins antidepressent effects and its ability to increase Serotonin. For determination of the concentration of testosterone and DHT, the LC‐MS/MS system, which consists of an Agilent 1290 Infinity LC System (Agilent technologies, Santa Clara, CA, USA) and an API‐5000 triple stage quadrupole mass spectrometer (Applied Biosystems, USA), were employed. Detailed procedures are described elsewhere,14, 15 and we here briefly describe the procedures with some modifications. The prostate tissues were collected under stereoscopic microscope and stored at −80°C until analysis. Prostate tissues from C57BL/6 mice and TRAMP mice were obtained after 1‐month oral administration of 200 mg/kg curcumin. The PB‐SV40 T transgene was identified using DNA extracted from tail samples and PCR primers directed at the PB‐SV40 T antigen sequence. The TRAMP was established using simian virus 40 (SV40) early genes (large and small T tumor antigens) under the control of the rat probasin promoter.13
