Treatment for the premenstrual syndrome with agnus castus fruit extract: prospective, randomised, placebo controlled study

Abstract

trials. We conclude that electrodermal testing cannot diagnose allergy to common aeroallergens such as cat dander and house dust mite-allergens that have a strong association with atopic respiratory disorders such as asthma, rhinitis, eczema, and conjunctivitis.We thank Jackie Burnham for her help in preparing the manuscript, all the volunteers and the operators who gave up their time so willingly, and the doctors and practice manager at Hythe Medical Centre who made space and time available to us.Contributors: GTL, JNK, and STH conceived the study, developed the protocol, and obtained funding. JB was the trial manager. JG was responsible for the statistical design and randomisation, and PP for the analysis. All authors were jointly involved in writing the paper. STH will act as guarantor.Funding: The study was supported by funding from Vega Grieshaber, the Asthma Allergy and Inflammation Research Trust, and the Foundation for Integrated Medicine.Competing interests: GTL and JNK formerly had interests in a company involved in the distribution of Vega Grieshaber products and both have received fees for speaking at a seminar on the Vegatest. Results Improvement in the main variable was greater in the active group compared with placebo group (P < 0.001). Analysis of the secondary variables showed significant (P < 0.001) superiority of active treatment in each of the three global impression items. Responder rates were 52% and 24% for active and placebo, respectively. Seven women reported mild adverse events (four active; three placebo), none of which caused discontinuation of treatment. Conclusions Dry extract of agnus castus fruit is an effective and well tolerated treatment for the relief of symptoms of the premenstrual syndrome.

Ethinyl Estradiol-Drospirenon Versus Vitex Agnus-Castus Extract in Efficacy of the Treatment of Premenstrual Syndrome

“…Özellikle PRL üzerine olan muhtemel etkisi nedeni ile mastodini şikâyeti olan hastalarda % 50'ye yakın oranda rahatlama sağlaması tercih sebebi iken ilerleyen zamanda PMS'un pek çok semptomu üzerine etkili olduğu-nun saptanması bu ürünün yaygın kullanım alanı bulmasına neden olmuştur [18]. VAC ile çok sayıda çalışma literatürde bulunmaktadır ve genel anlamda depresyon, anksiyete, sinirlilik, başağrısı gibi şikâyetlerde etkin olduğu saptanmıştır [19,20]. Gü-nümüzde pek çok çalışmada VAC ve drospirenon içeren COC'un PMS'de etkinliği değerlendirilmiştir.…”

Cytocidal Effects of Polyphenolic Compounds, Alone or in Combination with, Anticancer Drugs Against Cancer Cells: Potential Future Application of the Combinatory Therapy

“…Ripe fruit of Vitex agnus-castus has been used as a folk medicine for the treatment of various obstetric and gynecological disorders in Europe [30,31]. Itokawa and colleagues have reported that Vitex (an extract from dried ripe Vitex agnuscastus) possesses cytocidal effects on P388, a mouse leukemia cells, suggesting its antitumor activity, and that flavonoids such as luteolin ( Figure 2) are one of its major constituents [32,33].…”

“…These results indicated that while the cytocidal effect of 5-FU was more selective against undifferentiated hepatocellular carcinoma HLE, Vitex and luteolin exhibited significant cytocidal effects on both well-differentiated and undifferentiated hepatocellular carcinoma cells, suggesting a possible broad usefulness of these compounds to hepatocellular carcinoma therapy. Of note, Vitex has been used to treat patients with various obstetric and gynecological disorders in Europe [30,31]. Moreover, it is interesting to note that Vitexins, which are isolated from the seed of Chinese herb Vitex Negundo and bear a basic flavonoid structure, show cytotoxic and antitumor effects against breast, prostate and ovarian cancer cells through apoptosis induction via an intrinsic pathway based on in vitro and in vivo xenograft tumor models [54].…”

A Controlled Trial of Chinese Herbal Medicine for Premenstrual Syndrome

“…However, a systematic review (Budeiri et al 1996) of placebo-controlled trials of evening primrose oil found no significant evidence that it is helpful in treating PMS. In recent years, two PMS studies (Schellenberg, 2001;Lauritzen et al 1997) reported that chaste-tree berry (Vitex agnus-castus) shows some benefit over placebo or vitamin B 6 in comparison to baseline. In another study (Atmaca et al 2003), the outcome indicated that patients with PMDD responded well to treatment with combined selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) (fluoxetine) and Vitex agnus castus.…”