LAUSR.org creates dashboard-style pages of related content for over 1.5 million academic articles. Sign Up to like articles & get recommendations!

Reprotoxicity induced by acute exposure to aqueous tuber extract of Peruvian Maca (Lepidium meyenii Walp.) in Caenorhabditis elegans

Photo from wikipedia

Maca (Lepidium meyenii Walp.) has been used in folk medicine to treat fertility disturbances, a claim that has been evidenced in some studies. However, the clinical trials validating this use… Click to show full abstract

Maca (Lepidium meyenii Walp.) has been used in folk medicine to treat fertility disturbances, a claim that has been evidenced in some studies. However, the clinical trials validating this use have shown paradoxical findings and then maca safety is not well known. This study investigated the effects and mechanisms by which maca affects the reproductive system using an in vivo model, the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Tuber maca powder, obtained from local commerce, was used to prepare the aqueous extract. Worms were acutely exposed to maca extracts (40, 120, 240, and 330 μg/μl), and 48 h after treatments, physiological and biochemical assays were conducted. Maca extract caused a significant decrease in total number of eggs and in the number of eggs per worm. These effects were associated to increased lipid peroxidation, reduced triacylglycerol levels, and also impaired vit‐2 (vitellogenin) expression, besides increase in the number of apoptotic germline cells. We have found quantifiable levels of alkaloids in this maca extract, which presence could be related to this toxicity. Collectively, our data suggest that maca extract exposure causes reproductive toxicity to worms that could be, at least in part, associated to both an increase in apoptosis of germline cells and also to a decrease in vitellogenin expression, needed for egg yolk production and, consequently, successful reproduction.

Keywords: meyenii walp; extract; maca lepidium; maca; caenorhabditis elegans; lepidium meyenii

Journal Title: Journal of Applied Toxicology
Year Published: 2023

Link to full text (if available)


Share on Social Media:                               Sign Up to like & get
recommendations!

Related content

More Information              News              Social Media              Video              Recommended



                Click one of the above tabs to view related content.