Effect of Isopropanolic Cimicifuga racemosa Extract on Uterine Fibroids in Comparison with Tibolone among Patients of a Recent Randomized, Double Blind, Parallel-Controlled Study in Chinese Women with Menopausal Symptoms.
Objective. Effect of isopropanolic Cimicifuga racemosa extract (iCR) on uterine fibroid size compared with tibolone. Method. The randomized, double-blind, controlled study in China enrolled 244 patients aged 40-60 years with menopausal symptoms (Kupperman Menopause Index ≥ 15). The participants were treated with either iCR of 40 mg crude drug/day (N = 122) or tibolone 2.5 mg/day (N = 122) orally for 3 months in 2004. Now, we investigated the subset of all women (N = 62) with at least one uterine fibroid at onset of treatment for the effect of iCR (N = 34) on fibroid size compared with tibolone (N = 28) by transvaginal ultrasonography. Results. The median myoma volume decreased upon iCR by as much as -30% (P = 0.016) but increased upon tibolone by +4.7%. The percentage of volume change, mean diameter change and geometric mean diameter change of the iCR group compared to tibolone were statistically significant (P = 0.016, 0.021, 0.016 respectively). Conclusion. Our results suggest that iCR (Remifemin) is a valid herbal medicinal product in patients with uterine myomas as it provides adequate relief from menopausal symptoms and inhibits growth of the myomas in contrast to tibolone.
Department of Gynecology, The First Hospital of Peking University, Beijing, China.
Sisi
0000-0001-6604-3343
S
Xi
Departments of Life Sciences, Technical University of Braunschweig, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany.
Eckehard
E
Liske
Department of Gynecology, Jiangsu Province People's Hospital, Nanjing, China.
Shuyu
S
Wang
Department of Gynecology, The General Hospital of PLA, Beijing, China.
Jianli
J
Liu
Department of Gynecology, The General Hospital of PLA, Beijing, China.
Zhonglan
Z
Zhang
Department of Gynecology, The Third Hospital of Peking University, Beijing, China.
Li
L
Geng
Department of Gynecology, West China Second Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
Lina
L
Hu
Biometrical Department, Excel Pharma Studies, Beijing, China.
Chunfeng
0000-0001-5950-3508
C
Jiao
Department of Gynecology, The First Hospital of Peking University, Beijing, China.
Shurong
S
Zheng
Schaper & Brümmer GmbH & Co. KG, Preclinical and Clinical Research, 38259 Salzgitter, Germany.
Hans-Heinrich Henneicke-von
HH
Zepelin
Department of Gynecology, The First Hospital of Peking University, Beijing, China.
Wenpei
W
Bai