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Chinese Maca Lab Study and Report:
(© 2000, Elsevier Science Inc., the Journal of Urology, volume #55, 2000)
Effects of a Lipidic Extract from Lepidium Meyenii on sexual behavior in Mice and Rats.
Zheng BL, He K, Kim CH, Rogers L, Shao Y, Huang ZY, Lu Y, Yan SJ, Qien LC, Zheng QY. Pure World Botanicals, Inc., South Hackensack, New Jersey, USA.
This study reveals for the first time an aphrodisiac activity of L. Meyenii, an Andean mountain herb.
ABSTRACT OBJECTIVES: To determine the effect of oral administration of a purified lipidic extract from lepidium meyenii/peruvianum (M-01 M-02) on the number of complete intromissions and mating in normal mice, and on the latent period of erection (LPE) in rats with erectile dysfunction.
METHODS: Mice and rats were randomly divided into several experimental and control groups. A 10% ethanol suspension of M-01 and M-02 was orally administered for 22 days to the experimental groups according to the dosage specified by the experimental design. On day 22, 30 minutes after the dose was administered to the male mice, 2 virgin female mice were placed with 1 male mouse. The number of complete intromissions of each male mouse in 3 hours was recorded. In an assessment of 1 day of mating, each male mouse was cohabited with 5 estrous female mice overnight. The number of sperm-positive females was recorded. The LPE was measured to asses the sexual function in rats with erectile dysfunction. By using a YSD-4G multifunction instrument, an electric pulse at 20 V was applied to stimulate the rat`s penis, and the duration from the start to the stimulus to full erection was measured in seconds as the LPE.
RESULTS: In the normal male mice, the number of complete intromissions during the 3-hour period was 16.33 ± 1.78, 46.67 ± 2.39, and 67.01 ± 2.55 for the control group, M-01 group, and M-02 group, respectively. In the assessment of mating, the number of sperm-positive females increasede from 0.6 ± 0.7 in the control group to 1.5 ± 0.5 in the M-01 experimental group. LPE of male rats with erectile dysfunction was 112 ± 13 seconds with a regular diet (control group). The oral administration of M-01 at a dose of 180 or 1800 mg/kg body weight and M-02 at a dose of 45, 180, 1800 mg/kg body weight reduced the LPE to 54 ± 12 seconds, 54 ± 13 seconds, 71 ± 12 seconds, 73 ± seconds, and 41 ± 13 seconds, respectively. The LPE of the surgical rats treated with M-01 at the lowest dose (45 mg/kg) was 121 ± 12 seconds; thus, the change was not significant.
CONCLUSIONS: Oral administration of M-01 and M-02 enhanced the sexual function of the mice and rats, as evidenced by an increase in the number of complete intromissions and the number of sperm-positive females in normal mice, and decrease in the LPE in male rats with erectile dysfunction.
This study was conducted by: Bo Lin Zheng, Kan he, Calvin Hyungchan Kim, Lingling Rogers, Yu Shao, Zhen yen Huang, Yang lu, Sui jun Yan, Lu cheng Qien, and Qun yi Zheng at the Shenyang Medical College & Liaoning College of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Shenyang China, and also at the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine, Beijing, People´s Republic of China.
References: 1. Leon T: The ´Maca´ (Lepidium meyenii): a Little known food plant of Peru. Econ Bot 18: 122-127, 1964. 2. Chacón RC: Estudio fitoquímico de Lepidium meyenii Walp. Thesis, University Nac. Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Peru, 1961. 3. Zheng BL, Kim CH, He K, et al: A process for the isolation and purification of Lepidium meyenii. Patent pending, 1999. 4. National Clinical Test Procedure, FDA of China, 1998. 5. Hermann M, and Heller J: Andean Roots and Tubers: Ahipa, Arracacha, Maca and Yacom Rome, IPGRI, 1997, pp 175-195. 6. Cobo B: Historia del Nuevo Mundo. Biblioteca de Autores Españoles 81: 430, 1956. 7. Ruiz H: Relación histórica del viaje a los reinos del Peru y Chile, 1777-1778, Madrid Acad. De Ciene Exaetas: Fis y Nat 1: 526, 1952. 8. Pulgar VJ: Las Maca Lepidium sp. Poderoso fecundante vegetal. La voz de Huancayo 24:10, 1964. 9. John T: The anu and the maca. J Ethnobiol 1: 208-212,1981.
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Peruvian Maca Lab Study and Report: (© Dr. Gloria Chacon, Lima- Peru)
Effects of Maca on the Endocrine Glands.
Dr. Gloria Chacon isolated four alkaloids from the maca root and carried out animal studies with male and female rats given either powdered maca root or alkaloids isolated from the roots. In comparison with the animal control groups, those receiving either root powder or alkaloids showed multiple egg follicle maturation in females and, in males, significantly higher sperm production and motility rates than control groups. Dr. Chacon established that it was the alkaloids in the maca root, not its plant hormones, that produced fertility effects on the ovaries and testes of the rats. These effects are measurable within 72 hours of dosing the animals,' she offered in a recent telephone interview from Lima, Peru.
Through the experiments, she deduced that the alkaloids were acting on the hypothalamus-pituitary gland, which explains why both male and female rats were afflicted in a gender-appropriate manner. This also explains why the effects in humans are not limited to ovaries and testes, but also act on the adrenals, giving a feeling of greater energy and vitality, and on the pancreas and thyroid as well.
Implications of Dr. Chacon's discovery of the pituitary stimulating effects of maca are enormous. What it appears to mean is that hormone replacement therapy, even the natural varieties, will no longer be the gold standard for optimising a holistic point of view.
Lepidium meyenii Walp. improves sexual behaviour in male rats
Independently from its action on spontaneous locomotor activity.
Cicero AF, Bandieri E, Arletti R. Biomedical Sciences Department, Pharmacology Section, University of Modena and Reggio nell'Emilia, Via G. Campi, 287, 41100, Modena, Italy.
Lepidium meyenii Walpers (Maca) is traditionally employed in the Andean region for its supposed properties to improve energy and fertility. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of acute and chronic Maca pulverised root oral administration on rat sexual behaviour. Sixty male sexually experienced rats (20 group) were daily treated for 15 days with Maca 15 mg kg(-1), Maca 75 mg kg(-1) or saline 0.5 ml kg(-1). The following sexual performance parameters were evaluated at first and last day of treatment: 1st mount (ML), 1st intromission (IL), ejaculation (EL) and postejaculatory (PEL) latencies, intercopulatory interval (ICI) and copulatory efficacy (CE). An activity cage test was carried out to evaluate if Maca-induced locomotion changes could indirectly improve rat sexual performances. It was observed that both lower and higher Maca doses acutely decreased ML, IL and ICI in a significant way (P < 0.05), while only the 75 mg kg(-1) dose decreased the PEL (T = 29, P < 0.05). This effect seems to be the only one dose-dependent. After 15 days of treatment, both doses are able to significantly decrease ML, IL, EL and PEL, while the 75 mg kg(-1) dose decreased the ICI (T = 40, P < 0.05) too. IL, EL and PEL variations seem to be dose-related after chronic treatment. Moreover, chronic Maca treatment induced an apparently not dose-related increase in rat locomotion, during the second 10-min period of observation in the activity cage. The late in Maca-induced locomotion modification excludes that improvement of tested sexual performance parameters is related to an increase in rat aspecific activity. Thus, it was concluded that both acute and chronic Maca oral administration significantly improve sexual performance parameters in male rats.
PMID: 11297856 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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Article: (Physicians Note)
"Natural Viagra" (Notes from doctors Malaspina, Muller, and Chacon. Doctors Malaspina, Muller and Chacon, as well as doctors from the USA and Canada, have good news for men who are suffering age-related sexual dysfunction. They can forget expensive, possibly dangerous Viagra. Maca works extremely well and safely.
Dr. Jorge Aguila Calderon, Dean of the Faculty of Human Medicine at the National University of FedericoVillareal in Lima, prescribes maca for a wide variety of conditions, including osteoporosis and the healing of bone fractures in the very elderly. He says, "Maca has a Lot of easily absorbable calcium in it, plus magnesium, and a fair amount of silica, which we are finding very useful in treating decalcification of bones in children and adults." Dr Calderon has also helped patients overcome male impotence, male sterility, and female sterility by employing maca therapy. Additional problems he treats with maca are rickets, various forms of anaemia, menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes and night sweats, climacteric and erectile difficulties in men, premature ageing, and general states of weakness, such as chronic fatigue.
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Effect of Lepidium meyenii (maca) roots on spermatogenesis of male rats.
Gonzales GF, Ruiz A, Gonzales C, Villegas L, Cordova A.
Department of Physiological Sciences, Faculty of Sciences and Philosophy, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru.
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AIM: To determine the effect of oral administration of an aqueous extract from the roots of Lepidium meyenii (maca) on spermatogenesis in adult male rats. METHODS: Male rats received an aqueous extract of the root (66.7 mg in one mL) twice a day for 14 consecutive days. RESULTS: Treatment with Lepidium meyenii resulted in an increase in the weights of testis and epididymis but not the seminal vesicle weight. The length and frequency of stages IX-XIV seminiferous tubules, where mitosis occurred, were increased and stages I-VI were reduced in rats treated with Lepidium meyenii. CONCLUSION: The Lepidium meyenii root invigorates spermatogenesis in male rats by acting on its initial stages (IX-XIV). PMID: 11561196 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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