In general, androgen plays an important role in the sexual drive of males. Decreased androgen level is strongly related to reduced sexual activity and decreased sexual drive. This is a common problem in old males and in cases with erectile dysfunction. In males with the problem of sexual desire, androgen investigation is a useful test. In this case report, the patient also complained of increased sexual desire, which hmight have been due to exogenous hyperandrogenemeia. Similar to hyperestrogenemia caused due to phytoestrogens, some herbal regimens might contain phytoandrogens that can lead to hyperandrogenemia. In this case, Butea superba is the problematic external source of excessive androgen.
This plant is considered to be a male potency herb. In animal models receiving this herb, stimulation of sexual organ has been reported. In case of human beings, there is only one previous trial using this herb for treating erectile dysfunction.

The effect of this herb is comparable to that of sildenafil.However, there has never been any report on this herb in healthy males. This is the first case report on hyperandrogenemia due to ingestion of Butea superba. With the widespread usage of local herbs presently, the effects of herbs need to be considered. Indeed, a previous report also mentioned genotoxicity due to large dosage ingestion of Butea superba.

Butea superba Roxb. is a plant in the Family Leguminosae with the common name of “red Kwao Krua” in Thailand. The plant is abundantly distributed in the Thai deciduous forests in many parts of the country. This indigenous herb has been traditionally consumed among Thai males for the purposes of rejuvenate as well as maintain sexual performance or prevent erectile dysfunction (Suntara, 1931).

The Thai Butea superba Roxb.was found to contain flavonoid and flavonoid glycosides with potent cAMP phosphodiesterase inhibitory activity (Roengsumran et al., 2000).
The plant crude extract exhibited significant inhibitory activity on acetylcholinesterase (Ingkaninan et al., 2003).

The clinical trial of the plant powder as crude drug showed effective treatment of erectile dysfunction with a comparable method with sildenafil treatment (Cherdshewasart and Nimsakul, 2003; Cappelleri and Rosen, 2005).

Besides, Butea superba Roxb. exhibited anti-proliferation effect on the growth of MCF-7 and Hela cells in relation with a possible anti-estrogen mechanism or a potent cytotoxic effect (Cherdshewasart et al., 2004a,b). The Indian Butea superba Roxb. stems contained flavone glycoside and flavonol glycoside (Yadava and Reddy,
With emphasis to the plants in the genus Butea, information of the isolated chemicals and/or bioactivities derived mostly from Butea frondosa Koen. ex Roxb. (synonym; Butea monosperma). The plant contained lectin in seeds and exhibited estrogenic and postcoital anti-conceptive activity in rats (Bhargava, 1986; Wongkham et al., 1994).
Glucosides were also found in the plant extract (Gupta et al., 1970). The plant leaves exhibited antiinflammatory effect (Mengi and Deshpande, 1999) and effect on stress, anxiety, and cognition in rats (Soman et al., 2004). The plant extract exhibited various bioactivities, including aphrodisiac activity in male rats (Ramachandran et al., 2004), protective role against thioacetamide-mediated hepatic alterations in Wistar rats (Sehrawat et al., 2006), in vivo anthelmintic activity against Trichostrongylid nematodes in sheep (Iqbal et al., 2006), anti-diabetic in rats (Somani et al., 2006), anti-diarrhoeal activity in experimental animals (Gunakkunru et al., 2005), dermal wound healing in rats (Sumitra et al., 2005), anti-convulsive activity in laboratory animals (Kasture et al., 2000; Veena et al., 2002), anthelmintic activity (Prashanth et al., 2001) and antifungal (Bandara et al., 1989).

Cytotoxic constituents from Butea superba Roxb.
A carpin (3-hydroxy-9-methoxypterocarpan) (Medicarpin) (1) and four isoflavones, 7-hydroxy-4-methoxy-isoflavone (Formononetin) (2); 7,4- dimethoxyisoflavone (3); 5,4-dihydroxy-7-methoxy-isoflavone (Prunetin) (4) and 7-hydroxy-6,4-dimethoxyisoflavone (5) were isolated from the tuber roots of Butea superba Roxb. Compounds 2 and 4 showed moderate cytotoxic activity on KB cell lines with IC50 (M) values of 37.3±2.5 and 71.1±0.8 and on BC cell lines with IC50 (M) values of 32.7±1.5 and 47.3±0.3, respectively.

Nattaya Ngamrojanavanich a,, Aimon Loontaisong b, Somchai Pengpreecha a, Wichai Cherdshewasart c, Surachai Pornpakakul a, Khanitha Pudhoma, Sophon Roengsumran a, Amorn Petsom a a. Research Centre for Bioorganic Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Pyathai Road, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand, b. Program of Biotechnology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Pyathai Road, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand c Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Pyathai Road, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand . © 2006 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
Indian J Endocrinol Metab v.16(3); May-Jun 2012 PMC3354878