Introduction: Vitex agnus-castus, also called vitex is aboriginal to the Mediterranean region, with long leaves, tender stem, flowers and ripening seeds. The aim of this study was to overview premenstrual, postmenstrual and infertility disorder of Vitex agnus-castus.
Methods: This review article was carried out by searching studies in PubMed, Medline, Web of Science, and IranMedex databases. The initial search strategy identified about 87 references. In this study, 43 studies were accepted for further screening, and met all our inclusion criteria (in English, full text, therapeutic effects of Vitex agnus-castus and dated mainly from the year 2009 to 2016). The search terms were Vitex agnus-castus, premenstrual, postmenstrual, infertility disorder properties and pharmacological effects.
Result: Vitex agnus-castus was shown to contribute to the treatment of premenstrual syndrome (PMS). Moreover, the result of the present study showed that this valuable plant is helpful in alleviation of pain resulting from postmenstrual disease. Furthermore, it was found that Vitex agnus-castus is beneficial in infertility disorder.
Conclusion: Vitex agnus-castus (AC) is a phytopharmaceutical compound and is shown to be widely used to treat PMS and PMDD. In addition, it was shown to be beneficial in post-menstrual cases and it can also contribute to treatment of infertility cases in both men and women. Dopaminergic compounds available in this plant help to treat premenstrual mastodynia as well as other symptoms of the premenstrual syndrome.
Keywords: Alternative medicine; Pharmacognosy; Phytochemicals; Therapeutic effects; Vitex agnus-castusis.