Agnuside is a chemical compound found in Vitex agnus-castus. Agnuside is the ester of aucubin and p-hydroxybenzoic acid. The ethanol extract of the fruits of Vitex rotundifolia and its four major compounds casticin, luteolin, rotundifuran and agnuside were tested for their estrogen-like activity by using the modified cell proliferation assay, as well as the estrogen receptor (ER(alpha)), estrogen receptor-regulated progesterone receptor and pS2 mRNA expression in MCF-7 cells. The results showed that only agnuside and rotundifuran could stimulate the proliferation of MCF-7 cells. Vitex rotundifolia and its compounds showed estrogen-like activity and that the estrogenic effects of rotundifuran and agnuside were mediated by the estrogen inducible gene, which may be useful in regulating the hormone levels to treat related diseases.
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