research article
Bojan Tršinar 1, Samo Kreft 2*
1University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Zaloška cesta 7, 1000 Ljubljana,
Slovenia
2Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Ljubljana, Aškerčeva cesta 7, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
*Corresponding author: Samo Kreft, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Ljubljana, Aškerčeva cesta 7, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia. Tel: +386014769703; Fax: +386014258031; Email: samo.kreft@ffa.uni-lj.si
Received Date: 20 June, 2019; Accepted Date: 6 July, 2019; Published Date: 16
July, 2019
Abstract
Background: Herbal medicinal products containing extracts of saw palmetto berries (Serenoa repens) are used for treatment of Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (LUTS) because of Benign Prostatic Obstruction (BPO). Improvement of sexual dysfunctions was also shown.
Methods: Here we performed a multicentric open label clinical study on 84 men to confirm its effects on LUTS/BPO on Slovenian population and this is only the second study investigating the effect on sexual dysfunctions.
Results: In 6 months of treatment the International prostate symptom score (IPSS) improved from 12.7 to 9.2 (p = 7.0×10-12) and the quality of life score improved from 2.4 to 1.7 (p = 9.2×10-4). Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) levels did not change. The proportion of patients with unsatisfactory libido reduced from 26.5 % to 13.2 % (p=0.036) during the therapy and a non-significant trend of reduction of erectile dysfunction was observed.
Conclusion: Our results are in agreement with the previous research on the efficacy of saw palmetto, but regarding the libido and erectile dysfunction, further controlled studies are needed.
Keywords: Berries; Erectile Dysfunction; Libido; Saw Palmetto (Serenoa Repens); Slovenian Population
List of Abbreviations
BPE : Benign
Prostatic Enlargement;
BPH : Benign
Prostatic Hyperplasia;
BPO : Benign
Prostatic Obstruction;
ED : Erectile
Dysfunction;
IPSS : International
Prostate Symptom Score;
LUTS : Lower
Urinary Tract Symptoms;
PSA : Prostate-Specific
Antigen;
QoL : Quality
of Life
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