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<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>FYI:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>In response to the previous comment……….I'm
attaching the file from the Annals of Internal Medicine journal website explaining
plant material used for the black cohosh study in PDF format. I'm also
inserting two comments which were sent yesterday and posted on the journals
website. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Katherine M. Newton, Susan D. Reed,
Andrea Z. LaCroix, Louis C. Grothaus, Kelly Ehrlich, and Jane Guiltinan
Treatment of Vasomotor Symptoms of Menopause with Black Cohosh,
Multibotanicals, Soy, Hormone Therapy, or Placebo: A Randomized Trial Ann
Intern Med, Dec 2006; 145: 869 - 879.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Comments / Interpretation <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>1.) Jonathan P. Krueger<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Re: why between-subjects design?<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'> Is there some reason a
within-subjects design was not used? It would appear to be suited to the
phenomenon, which is reversible and observable within months. Why not have all
subjects experience all conditions, say two months per condition, ordered at
random for each subject?The power would be better, the results cleaner, and
we'd be able to answer a question this study cannot: do some subjects respond
reliably, even if the overall response is weak? <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>2.) Baoming Ge,<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>MD, MClSc<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>China Clinical Trials Coordination
Center Send rapid response to journal: <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Re: Interpretation of the
"negative" result<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'> Dear Editors <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>I read the paper with interest about
the excellent work completed by Dr. Newton and her colleagues. We have just
finished a pilot study of a black cohosh ethanol abstract in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Beijing</st1:place></st1:City> and are on the track of a national
wide multi-centered RCT. The double-blinded pilot study enrolled 120 Chinese
women with climacteric symptoms who were stratified into perimenopausal and
postmenopausal arms, according to the standard of STRAW. Each arm was divided
into 3 interventional groups, i.e. black cohosh (BC) low dose (1# bid), BC high
dose (1# tid) and placebo, with 20 cases in each group. The primary outcome was
Kupperman Index (KI) evaluated before the study and at the 2 and 4 weeks after
the treatment. We also used menopause rating scale (MRS) as secondary outcome
when it was first introduced in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region>
and validified by this study. Although some of the results of this pilot study
were "negative" (even there existed difference between BC and placebo
groups), similar as shown in Dr. Newton et al's study, we were very careful to
accept the null hypothesis, which we believed that the sample size we
calculated before the study was not powerful enough to detect the difference. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>I've noticed in Dr. Newton et al's
study that they calculated the sample size based on an assumption that the
effect of herbs was halfway of HRT. It is not surprised to see that the black
cohosh group failed to show a "P<0.05" when it didn't reach the
standard effect size even though the 95% CIs shifted to the left side of zero
and inferred a small sample size. Seems Dr. Altman's words ring again beside
our ears absence of evidence is not an evidence of absence. I have also noticed
that Dr. Newton and her colleagues also admitted that their study result didn't
rule out the differences between treatment groups smaller than 1.5 vasomotor
symptoms per day. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>We have never used Wiklund Vasomotor
Symptom Subscale in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region>.
But we found an interesting result in our study when we used both KI and MRS as
outcomes, of which the KI seemed more "sensitive" to detect the
treatment effect than MRS. We postulated that it was possible due the
"weight" factor given to the score of vasomotor symptoms in KI which
might "amplify" the effect comparing scored by MRS. It is interesting
to know if any other researchers find similar phenomena. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Our study showed that the BC
treatment brought more adverse events than placebo to the participants, mainly
headaches. It was also shown in many other studies on BC. I was surprised to
find that BC treatment had similar safety profile as placebo in Dr. Newton et
al's study. We used a pharmaceutical product with major components specified,
provided by a local manufacturer. Dr. Newton didn't mention whether the
components contained in the BC product were standardized. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>We appreciate that Dr. Newton or any
other medical professionals with experience of using BC may share information
with us. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Sincerely Yours <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Dr. Baoming Ge <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Reference <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Altman DG, Bland JM. Absence of
evidence is not evidence of absence. BMJ 1995;311:485 <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Conflict of Interest:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Dr. Ge is the medical director of a
CRO, located in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Beijing</st1:City>, <st1:country-region
w:st="on">China</st1:country-region></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Joe-Ann McCoy, Ph.D.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>USDA-ARS Medicinal Plant Curator<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>From:</span></font></b><font size=2
face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'> mpwg-bounces@lists.plantconservation.org
[mailto:mpwg-bounces@lists.plantconservation.org] <b><span style='font-weight:
bold'>On Behalf Of </span></b>Wendy Applequist<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> Thursday, December 21, 2006
11:03 AM<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b>
mpwg@lists.plantconservation.org<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> Re: [MPWG] A positive
black cohosh study 12/7/2006 - BlackCohosh(Actaea racemosa,Cimicifuga racemosa)
Behaves as a Mixed Competitive Ligand andPartialAgonist at the Human Opiate
Receptor</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=blue face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:blue'>Trish,</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=blue face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:blue'>I agree that the UIC team is more
trustworthy, but their study is in vitro and results of in vitro studies do not
always translate into in vivo results (look at how many phony "herb-drug
interaction" alarms have been raised through the use of petri-dish
studies). However, there's further reason to question the results of
the human trial here. Firstly, there are a <st1:place w:st="on">LOT</st1:place>
of studies showing that black cohosh reduces hot flashes or total menopausal
symptoms; a clear majority of trials have been positive. Some people
have a nasty habit of pretending that if 15 European studies are positive
and one American study is negative, the question has been completely resolved
-- with a negative answer! The mainstream media invariably fall in line
with this spin. When the researchers themselves push this outlook, as
appears to be the case here, this demonstrates bias that warrants going
over their study with a fine-tooth comb.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=blue face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:blue'>Firstly, this "Wiklund Menopause
Symptom" scale is not commonly used. Many studies of
black cohosh have used the Kupperman Index, which is also used for
tests of pharmaceutical drugs. If you look these two things up in PubMed,
you will find that there are several studies of menopause with Wiklund as
one of the authors (mostly using scales with different names, according to the
abstracts); the ONLY study that has Wiklund in the abstract but not the
authors' list is this study. The only Googled references to
"Wiklund Menopause Symptom," in quotes, refer to this study.
Compare that to "Kupperman Index" with respectively 143 PubMed-listed
scientific papers and almost 10,000 Google hits. Suppose that you do not
really care to find an effect -- it would certainly help to use a poorly
validated rating scale that might be less sensitive than the usual
scales, or might give higher "placebo effect" answers.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=blue face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:blue'>I don't have access to the article, but
someone has summarized a few of the results online. At three months,
frequency of vasomotor symptoms declined 35% with black cohosh, 15% with
multibotanical, 30% with multibotanical plus soy, 21% with placebo, and 88%
with hormone therapy. We are told that the difference between
"herbal supplements" (which?) and placebo was 0.6 hot flashes per
day. A "global test for herbs and placebo" gave P=.10.
Other measures showed trends toward the herbs but were farther from being significant.
The media version is that everything was the same except that the
multibotanical plus soy at 12 months was significantly worse than
placebo. Now, P=.10 does not show that the above superiority of
herbs over placebo is real, but it certainly doesn't prove that there is
no effect either! With a larger sample size, the same effect might have
been significant at P=.05. At least, the commentary has been
misleading. </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=blue face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:blue'>Also, someone with access to the paper
might look into material sourcing and quality. Was a fingerprint provided?
Was the source provided? Did they show that levels of suspected active
compounds were adequate? Using crummy material (as in the recent highly
touted Echinacea angustifolia study, with no detectable echinacoside, and 30%
of the recommended dose on top of that) is a great way to reduce the effect
size. I'm not implying that they would deliberately go out and
look for lousy material, but if you are operating under the belief that
no herbal product will (or should) be effective, you don't put much
effort into ensuring product quality either. This study was funded
before the new NCCAM guidelines required researchers to demonstrate product
composition.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=blue face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:blue'>Wendy</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<blockquote style='border:none;border-left:solid blue 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 4.0pt;
margin-left:3.75pt;margin-top:5.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:5.0pt'>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<div class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>
<hr size=2 width="100%" align=center tabIndex=-1>
</span></font></div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><b><font size=2 face=Tahoma><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>From:</span></font></b><font
size=2 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'>
mpwg-bounces@lists.plantconservation.org
[mailto:mpwg-bounces@lists.plantconservation.org] <b><span style='font-weight:
bold'>On Behalf Of </span></b>Trish Flaster<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> Thursday, December 21, 2006
10:13 AM<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b> <st1:PersonName w:st="on">McCoy,
Joe-Ann</st1:PersonName><br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Cc:</span></b>
mpwg@lists.plantconservation.org<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> Re: [MPWG] A positive
black cohosh study 12/7/2006 - Black Cohosh(Actaea racemosa,Cimicifuga
racemosa) Behaves as a Mixed Competitive Ligand andPartial Agonist at the Human
Opiate Receptor</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><!-- Converted from text/enriched format -->It is a pleasure that you
sent this as this scientific team spent years looking at all the species of
cohosh and other plants to understanding the mechanism activity of black
cohosh. I trust this work a lot more than others. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Trish <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>On Thursday, December 21, 2006, at 07:29 AM, <st1:PersonName w:st="on">McCoy,
Joe-Ann</st1:PersonName> wrote: <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<blockquote style='margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt'>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>FYI: A positive black cohosh study which came out 2 weeks ago but
didn't receive the press' attention. Just to even out the uncertainty......... <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/abstract.cgi/jafcau/2006/54/i26/abs/jf062808u.html
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>J. Agric. Food Chem., 54 (26), 9852 -9857, 2006. 10.1021/jf062808u
S0021-8561(06)02808-1 <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>December 7, 2006 <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Copyright © 2006 American Chemical Society <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Black Cohosh (Actaea racemosa, Cimicifuga racemosa) Behaves as a Mixed
Competitive Ligand and Partial Agonist at the Human Opiate Receptor <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Mee-Ra Rhyu,# Jian Lu, Donna E. Webster, Daniel S. Fabricant, Norman R.
Farnsworth, and Z. Jim Wang* <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy, UIC/NIH Center for
Botanical Dietary Supplements Research and Program for Collaborative Research
in the Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Department of Biopharmaceutical Sciences,
College of Pharmacy, University of Illinois, Chicago, Illinois 60612 <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Abstract: <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Black cohosh is a commonly used botanical dietary supplement for the
treatment of climacteric complaints. Because the opiate system in the brain is
intimately associated with mood, temperature, and sex hormonal levels, the
activity of black cohosh extracts at the human opiate receptor (hMOR) expressed
in Chinese hamster ovary cells was investigated. The 100% methanol, 75%
ethanol, and 40% 2-propanol extracts of black cohosh effectively displaced the
specific binding of [3H]DAMGO to hMOR. Further studies of the clinically used
ethanol extract indicated that black cohosh acted as a mixed competitive
ligand, displacing 77 ± 4% [3H]DAMGO to hMOR (Ki = 62.9 g/mL). Using the
[35S]GTPS assay, the action of black cohosh was found to be consistent with an
agonist, with an EC50 of 68.8 ± 7.7 g/mL. These results demonstrate for the
first time that black cohosh contains active principle(s) that activate hMOR,
supporting its beneficial role in alleviating menopausal symptoms. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Keywords: Black cohosh; menopause; hot flashes; opiate; botanical
dietary supplement <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Received for review October 1, 2006. Accepted October 24, 2006. This
publication was funded by the following grants: AT003476 from the National
Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) and the Office of
Dietary Supplements (ODS); AT000155 jointly provided to the UIC/NIH Center for
Botanical Dietary Supplements Research by the ODS, the NCCAM, the Office for
Research on Women's Health, and the National Institute for General Medical
Sciences; and DA005050 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. D.E.W. is
supported by an NIH predoctoral fellowship (F31AT002669). J.L. is a University
Fellow. The contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not
necessarily represent the official views of the NCCAM, NIDA, or the National
Institutes of Health. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Joe-Ann McCoy, Ph.D. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>USDA-ARS Medicinal Plant Curator <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>North Central Regional Plant Introduction Station <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
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</blockquote>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Helvetica><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
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