Phytotherapy in endometriosis: an up-to-date review

Luigi Della Corte, Della Corte L, Marco Noventa, Noventa M, Michal Ciebiera, Michał Ciebiera, Maria Magliarditi, Magliarditi M, Zaki Sleiman, Sleiman Z, Erbil Karaman, Karaman E, Ursula Catena, Calogero Salvaggio, Salvaggio C, Giovanni Falzone, Falzone G, Simone Garzon
Journal of complementary & integrative medicine · 2019 · vol. 17(3) · doi:10.1515/jcim-2019-0084 · PMID:31532753 · W2974879512
review OA: green CC0 ⤵ 25 in-corpus citations
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This review examines the anti-inflammatory, proapoptotic, antioxidant, and immunomodulatory effects of medicinal plants and phytochemicals investigated for endometriosis therapy, highlighting their potential but also the need for clinical trials.

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Abstract

Endometriosis is a benign gynecological disease which symptoms can provide a severe impact on patient's quality of life with subsequent impact on psychological well-being. Different therapeutic strategies are available to treat this disease, such as surgery, hormonal therapies, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Nevertheless, the efficacy of conventional medical treatments is limited or intermittent in most of the patients due to the associated side effects. Therefore, a woman with endometriosis often search for additional and alternative options, and phytotherapy might be a promising alternative and complementary strategy. Different medicinal plants, multicomponent herbal preparations, and phytochemicals were investigated for pharmacological proprieties in endometriosis therapy. In most of the cases, the effect on endometriosis was related to phenolic compounds, such as flavonoids and phenolic acids reporting anti-inflammatory, proapoptotic, antioxidant, and immunomodulatory functions. Moreover, some phytochemicals have been related to a strong phytoestrogenic effect modulating the estrogen activity. Although promising, available evidence is based on in vitro and animal models of endometriosis with a limited number of well-performed clinical studies. There are almost none randomized control trials in this area. Therefore, properly constructed clinical trials are mandatory to achieve more conclusive results about the promising role of phytotherapy in the management of endometriosis.

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Condition tags

endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Endometriosis Phytochemicals Phytotherapy Plant Preparations Plants, Medicinal Animals Endometriosis Female Humans Phytochemicals Phytotherapy Plant Preparations Plants, Medicinal Treatment Outcome

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Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

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