Chinese Herbal Products for Female Infertility in Taiwan

Abstract

Female infertility and low birth rate are significant public health issues with profound social, psychological, and economic consequences. Some infertile women resort to conventional, complementary, or alternative therapies to conceive. The aim of this study was to identify the Chinese herbal products (CHPs) most commonly used for female infertility in Taiwan.The usage of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and the frequency of CHP prescriptions to infertile women were determined based on a nationwide 1-million randomly sampled cohort of National Health Insurance Research Database beneficiaries. Descriptive statistics and multiple logistic regression analysis were employed to estimate the adjusted odds ratio (aOR) for TCM usage and potential risk factors.In total, 8766 women with newly diagnosed infertility were included in this study. Of those, 8430 (96.17%) had sought TCM treatment in addition to visiting the gynecologist. We noted that female infertility patients with risk factors (e.g., endometriosis, uterine fibroids, or irregular menstrual cycle) were more likely to use TCM than those without TCM medication (aOR = 1.83, 1.87, and 1.79, respectively). The most commonly used formula and single CHP were Dang-Gui-Sha-Yao-San (17.25%) and Semen Cuscutae (27.40%), respectively. CHP formula combinations (e.g., Dang-Gui-Sha-Yao-San plus Wen-Jing-Tang 3.10%) or single Chinese herbal combinations (e.g., Semen Cuscutae plus Leonurus japonicus 6.31%) were also commonly used to treat female infertility. Further well-conducted, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled studies will be needed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of these CHP combinations for female infertility.

A system for rapid and inexpensive treatment of sewage using the weed Eclipta prostrata in SHEFROL® bioreactor

“…), infertility (Hung et al . ), hepatotoxicity (Himaja and Neelufar Shama, ), and gastrointestinal disorders (Neamsuvan & Ruangrit ). These curative properties, especially against cancer and HIV, have led to extensive studies on nanoparticles synthesized biomimetically using aqueous extracts of E. prostrata (Chung et al .…”

“…In addition it has been shown to have anti-HIV, antivenom, antidiabatic and antihelmintic attributes (Pithayanukul et al 2004;Tewtrakul et al 2007;Jahan et al 2014;Nathiya & Gayathri 2016;Kousalya et al 2017), and can protect against nurotoxicity (Jaisin et al 2016), infertility (Hung et al 2016), hepatotoxicity (Himaja and Neelufar Shama, 2015), and gastrointestinal disorders (Neamsuvan & Ruangrit 2017). These curative properties, especially against cancer and HIV, have led to extensive studies on nanoparticles synthesized biomimetically using aqueous extracts of E. prostrata (Chung et al , 2017Rajakumar et al 2012Rajakumar et al , 2015Rajakumar et al , 2016Rajakumar & Rahuman 2011;Rajasekar et al 2016) and assessment of their curative activity.…”

Complementary and Alternative Therapy with Traditional Chinese Medicine for Infertility

“…However, in a recent well-controlled clinical trial, there was no signiicant diference in fertility outcomes after laparoscopy between women with minimal/mild endometriosis treated with oral contraceptives (OC), or OC and Dan&e mixture (composed of six herbs) [42]. A study from the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) in Taiwan has revealed the most commonly used TCM formulas for the management of female infertility [43]. At the top of the list are Dang-Gui-ShaYao-San and Wen-Jing-Tang; the former is used for abdominal pain during pregnancy, while the later is used for dysmenorrhea and infertility, and acts by promoting blood circulation to prevent blood stasis, by warming the meridians to dissipate cold, and by tonifying qi to nourish the blood.…”

Effect of Chinese Herbal Medicine on Female Infertility

“…Periodic Herbal Managements from G Xia's experience[20,21,34,39,40].Table 1) could increase anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) and oocyte quality for patients with polycystic ovarian syndrome. The drug's mechanisms of action are correlated with regulating AMH levels in the serum and follicular fluid, adjusting androgen levels, improving the pathophysiological changes of PCOS patients, and activating the ovarian microenvironment…”