Impact of oral capsule of Peganum harmala on alleviating urinary symptoms in men with benign prostatic hyperplasia; a randomized clinical trial

Abstract

Introduction: Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is considered as a major cause of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in older men and its most common sign is nocturia. Objectives: This study aimed to determine the effect of the seeds of Peganum harmala compared with tamsulosin on alleviating urinary symptoms in patients with BPH. Patients and Methods: In this single blind clinical trial study, 90 patients diagnosed with BPH and LUTS, based on international prostate standard survey (IPSS) were divided into three groups. The first group was received oral capsule of P. harmala, the second group was administered tamsulosin with oral P. harmala seed and the third group was received tamsulosin drug and they were evaluated after 4 weeks. Results: The results showed that the difference between mean scores of IPSS was significant after the intervention (P=0.001). Besides, the mean of IPSS in the three groups was significantly different (P=0.001) (the first group 41.9±5.3, the second group 21.0±4.4 ,the third group 16.5±3.7 respectively). However, after the intervention, patients in the second group had the lowest average on most indicators of IPSS but the difference was only significant about urinary frequency, nocturia and intermittency(P<0.05). Conclusion: Application of Peganum harmala seed can be useful in reducing urinary symptoms in patients with BPH.

Improving health benefits with considering traditional and modern health benefits of Peganum harmala

“…Mohsenipour and Hassanshahian [67] suggested that P. harmala extracts applied as antimicrobial agents testing bacteria particularly in biofilm forms. Shirani-Boroujeni et al [68] noted that the application of P. harmala seed can be useful in reducing urinary symptoms in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Berrougui et al [69] suggested that P. harmala compounds could be a major source of compounds that inhibit low density lipoprotein (LDL) oxidative modification induced by copper.…”

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“…Besides that, certain plant-based products and foods can be effective in decreasing sexual desire and treating sexual dysfunctions yet cause certain side effects such as decline in fertility 19,20 that should be taken into consideration in treating these disorders. Because of being lower cost and causing fewer side effects compared to chemical drugs, medicinal plants are being increasingly welcome and used to treat different diseases in Iran [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30] . Therefore, regarding the significance of this issue, the current systematic review was conducted to report Iranian medicinal plants effective on changes in libido, erectile dysfunction, and premature ejaculation.…”

Phytotherapy: An anti-hepatotoxicity and hepatoprotective approach in chemotherapy

“…They have little to no side effects compared with synthesis drugs. Various studies have shown that medicinal herbs can be effective, inexpensive, and efficient treatments for various diseases, including against toxicity (21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30). Hepatoprotective agents seem to be useful in the oncologic setting, yet they are still not widely documented for clinical usage (6).…”