Effect of Aslagh Capsule, a Traditional Compound Herbal Product on Oligomenorrhea in Patients with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: A Three-Arm, Open-label, Randomized, Controlled Trial

Maryam Bahman; Homa Hajimehdipoor; Soodabeh Bioos; Fataneh Hashem-Dabaghian; Maryam Afrakhteh; Mojgan Tansaz

doi:10.31661/gmj.v8i0.1261

Effect of Aslagh Capsule, a Traditional Compound Herbal Product on Oligomenorrhea in Patients with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: A Three-Arm, Open-label, Randomized, Controlled Trial

Galen Med J. 2019 Jun 2:8:e1261. doi: 10.31661/gmj.v8i0.1261. eCollection 2019.

Authors

Maryam Bahman¹, Homa Hajimehdipoor², Soodabeh Bioos³, Fataneh Hashem-Dabaghian⁴, Maryam Afrakhteh⁵, Mojgan Tansaz¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Traditional Medicine, School of Traditional Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences. Tehran, Iran.
² Traditional Medicine and Materia Medica Research Center and Department of Traditional Pharmacy, School of Traditional Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
³ Department of Traditional Medicine, School of Traditional Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
⁴ Research Institute for Islamic and Complementary Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences. Tehran, Iran.
⁵ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shohadaye Tajrish Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Background: Oligomenorrhea is a common complaint in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). There are some useful medicinal recommendations such as Aslagh product (include fennel fruits, carrot seeds, chaste tree fruits) in Iranian traditional medicine for the treatment of oligomenorrhea in PCOS. Hence, the present investigation was designed to compare Aslagh capsule with metformin on the oligomenorrhea.

Materials and methods: One hundred fifty women aged between 18-43 years with oligomenorrhea due to PCOS were randomly divided into Aslagh, metformin, and Aslagh + metformin groups. The occurrence of menstrual bleeding was considered as the primary outcome. Menstrual cyclicity, duration, and volume of the bleeding were also evaluated.

Results: Occurrence of menstrual bleeding was 87.2% in all patients, with no significant difference between the three groups (P> 0.05). Menstrual cyclicity significantly improved from baseline in Aslagh and Aslagh + metformin groups (P=0.02). Duration of menstrual bleeding was significantly higher in Aslagh group in the first and the second menstrual bleeding cycle compared to the other two groups (P<0.05). No significant change was observed in the volume of the bleeding after the intervention in any of the three groups. The occurrence of menstrual bleeding in Aslagh group was significantly (P=0.03) higher than the other two groups in the fourth month (drug-free period).

Conclusion: Aslagh capsule showed beneficial effects similar to metformin in the treatment of oligomenorrhea in PCOS women and could be suggested for use as an alternative treatment in these patients.

Keywords: Aslagh; Iranian Traditional Medicine; Oligomenorrheaa; Polycystic Ovary Syndrome; Vitex.