Ferulic acid, ligustrazine, and tetrahydropalmatine display the anti-proliferative effect in endometriosis through regulating Notch pathway

Dai XS, Xue-Shan Dai, Xueshan Dai, Wei QH, Qing-Hua Wei, Qinghua Wei, Guo X, Xin Guo, Ding Y, Yi Ding, Xiaoqian Yang, Yang XQ, Xiao-Qian Yang, Yu-Xin Zhang, Zhang YX, Yuxin Zhang, Xiao-Yu Xu, Xiaoyu Xu, Xu XY, Li C, Cong Li, Yi Chen, Chen Y
Life sciences · 2023 · vol. 328 , pp. 121921 · doi:10.1016/j.lfs.2023.121921 · PMID:37429417 · W4383619755
Lab / animal OA: closed CC0 ⤵ 3 in-corpus citations
View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by gemini-2.5-flash-lite, 2026-07-09 ⓘ

Ferulic acid, ligustrazine, and tetrahydropalmatine inhibited endometriosis proliferation by downregulating the Notch pathway, which was found to be overexpressed in ectopic endometrium.

One-sentence paraphrase of the abstract; not a substitute for reading it. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

AIMS: With an ambiguous anti-proliferative mechanism, the combination of ferulic acid, ligustrazine, and tetrahydropalmatine (FLT) shows good anti-endometriosis (EMS) activity. In EMS, the expression of Notch pathway and its role in proliferation are not yet unclear. In this study, we sought to uncover the role of Notch pathway's effect and FLT's anti-proliferative mechanism on EMS proliferation. MAIN METHODS: In autograft and allograft EMS models, the proliferating markers (Ki67, PCNA), Notch pathway, and the effect of FLT on them were detected. Then, the anti-proliferative influence of FLT was measured in vitro. The proliferating ability of endometrial cells was investigated with a Notch pathway activator (Jagged 1 or VPA) or inhibitor (DAPT) alone, or in combination with FLT separately. KEY FINDINGS: FLT presented the inhibitory effect on ectopic lesions in 2 EMS models. The proliferating markers and Notch pathway were promoted in ectopic endometrium, but FLT showed the counteraction. Meantime, FLT restrained the endometrial cell growth and clone formation along with a reduction in Ki67 and PCNA. Jagged 1 and VPA stimulated the proliferation. On the contrary, DAPT displayed the anti-proliferating effect. Furthermore, FLT exhibited an antagonistic effect on Jagged 1 and VPA by downregulating Notch pathway and restraining proliferation. FLT also displayed a synergistic effect on DAPT. SIGNIFICANCE: This study indicated that the overexpressing Notch pathway induced EMS proliferation. FLT attenuated the proliferation by inhibiting Notch pathway.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis

Citation neighborhood (2-hop)

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. Outer rings show 2-hop neighbours — papers reached through the immediate citers/citees. [ collapse to 1-hop ]

References (60)

Cited by (4)

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-10-13T06:10:10.580696+00:00
openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-10-13T06:09:20.172951+00:00
unpaywall
last seen: 2026-10-12T06:33:14.382917+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK