Inhibitors of 5α-Reductase Type I in LNCaP Cells from the Roots of Angelica Koreana
February 2002
in “
Planta Medica
”
TLDR Compounds from Angelica koreana roots, especially osthenol, could be effective for treating conditions like prostate disease and hair loss.
In a study from 2002, researchers isolated two compounds, osthenol and bisabolangelone, from the roots of Angelica koreana that demonstrated inhibitory effects on 5α-reductase type I in LNCaP cells, a human prostatic cancer cell line. Osthenol was found to be significantly potent with an IC50 value of 0.1 µg/ml, making it about 200 times more effective than the positive control, finasteride, which had an IC50 of 19.8 µg/ml. Bisabolangelone also showed inhibitory activity with an IC50 of 11.6 µg/ml. Four other compounds were tested but were inactive. The study concluded that these compounds, particularly osthenol, could be promising for developing new treatments for conditions related to excessive dihydrotestosterone (DHT) production, such as prostate diseases and male pattern hair loss, and their effects were not due to cytotoxicity.
