Efficacy of the herbal medicine Unkei-to as an adjunctive treatment to hormone replacement therapy for postmenopausal women with depressive symptoms.
OBJECTIVE
Although hormone replacement therapy (HRT) improves menopausal depressive symptoms, women unresponsive to HRT need an antidepressant drug as an effective adjunctive therapy. The aim of this study was to assess whether the herbal medicine Unkei-to has an impact on HRT-resistant menopausal depressive symptoms as an effective adjunctive therapy combined with HRT.


METHODS
Twenty-four HRT-resistant menopausal depressive women were randomly assigned to group 1 (n = 12) or group 2 (n = 12). Subjects in group 1 were accessioned into 6 months of open treatment with Unkei-to as an adjunctive therapy and changed to Toki-shakuyaku-san for 6 months following a 1-month washout period. Group 2 started with Toki-shakuyaku-san for 6 months and then changed to Unkei-to for 6 months following a 1-month washout period.


RESULTS
Three months' treatment with Unkei-to as an adjunctive therapy significantly improved Zung's Self-Rating Depression Scale (ZSDS) scores, State-Anxiety (STAI-1) scores, and Trait-Anxiety (STAI-2) scores noted before treatment, and this effect continued at 6 months. Treatment with Unkei-to was also significantly effective in reduction of ZSDS scores, STAI-1 scores, and STAI-2 scores at 3 months compared with Toki-shakuyaku-san treatment, and this effect continued at 6 months.


CONCLUSIONS
Unkei-to is another option as an adjunctive herbal therapy in HRT-resistant menopausal depressive women.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Science, Knazawa University, Ishikawa, Japan. k-koike@med.kanazawa-u.ac.jp
Koji
K
Koike
Satoshi
S
Ohno
Noriko
N
Takahashi
Nobutaka
N
Suzuki
Noriko
N
Nozaki
Kouichi
K
Murakami
Kouichi
K
Sugiura
Kiyofumi
K
Yamada
Masaki
M
Inoue
D000368:Aged; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods; D003863:Depression / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015914:Estrogen Replacement Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008347:Manifest Anxiety Scale; D008875:Middle Aged; D017698:Postmenopause / Q000187:drug effects*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; C413220:toki-shakuyaku-san; C058415:unkei-to