title: A survey of the therapeutic effects of Vitamin E suppositories on vaginal atrophy in postmenopausal women.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Menopause is associated with various complications such as depression, sleep disorders, and genitourinary atrophy. Vaginal atrophy occurs due to the loss of steroid hormones, and its major symptoms include vaginal dryness, itching, dyspareunia, and bleeding after intercourse. According to the literature, vitamin E plays a key role in estrogen stability. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of vitamin E suppositories and conjugated estrogen vaginal cream on vaginal atrophy.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this clinical trial, 52 postmenopausal women, who were referred to a gynecology clinic in 2013, were recruited and randomly divided into two groups (26 cases per group). One group received 100 IU of vitamin E suppositories (n= 26), whereas the other group applied 0.5 g of conjugated estrogen cream for 12 weeks. Vaginal maturation value (VMV) was compared between the two groups before and after the intervention. VMV ≤ 55 was regarded as a cut-off point for vaginal atrophy. Treatment success was defined as a 10-unit increase in VMV, compared to the baseline value. Data were analyzed by Friedman test and Mann-Whitney test.Pvalue less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean VMV in the vitamin E group before the treatment and after 4, 8, and 12 weeks of treatment was 43.78 ± 13.75, 69.07 ± 22.75, 77.86 ± 21.79, and 80.59 ± 19.23, respectively. The corresponding values in the estrogen cream group were 42.86 ± 14.40, 86.98 ± 12.58, 92.65 ± 15, and 91.57 ± 14.10, respectively. VMV significantly improved in both the treatment groups after the intervention, compared to the preintervention period (P< 0.001). Treatment success was reported in both groups, although estrogen cream (100%) appeared to be more effective after 4 weeks of treatment, compared to vitamin E suppositories (76.9%) (P= 0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Based on the findings, use of vitamin E suppositories could improve the laboratory criteria for vaginal atrophy and treatment success. Therefore, vitamin E suppositories are suggested for relieving the symptoms of vaginal atrophy, especially in women who are unable to use hormone therapy or cope with the associated side effects.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Aazam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Parnan Emamverdikhan
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Nahid
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Golmakani
authors.affiliation: Pharmacological Research Center of Medicinal Plants, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Sayyed ASajadi
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Tabassi
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Malihe
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hassanzadeh
authors.affiliation: Solid tumor Treatment Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashad, Iran.
authors.forename: Nooriyeh
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sharifi
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, School of Health, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Taghi
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Shakeri
keywords: Conjugated estrogen; vaginal atrophy; vitamin E