Aim There are more and more herbal preparations that are used for the purpose of treatment and improvement of the clinical manifestation of vaginitis not only by patients themselves, but also by healthcare professionals. Plant species, St. John’s wort, chamomile, calendula, yarrow, shepherd’s purse and tea tree oil are all well known for their anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and wound healing activity. This paper presents the results of a clinical study in which three herbal formulations/vagitories, based on extracts of St. John’s wort, chamomile, calendula, yarrow, shepherd’s purse and tea tree oil, were investigated for their effectiveness on vaginitis. Methods This was a randomized controlled clinical study that included 210 women with diagnosed vaginitis. Patients were divided into two basic groups, women in reproductive period and postmenopausal period. Three subgroups including 30 patients each received one of the three vagitorie formulations for 5 days, after which the effects on subjective and objective symptoms were monitored. Results Three types of vagitories based on plant extracts had a positive effect in the treatment of vaginitis. Vagitories based on tea tree oil showed better efficiency compared to vagitories with St. John’s wort and vagitories based on extracts of five plants. Women in postmenopausal group reported better tolerability of St. John’s wort-based and five herbs-based vagitories compared to tea tree oil based vagitories. Conclusion Investigated vagitories showed a positive effect on both objective and subjective symptoms of vagitnis. No serious side effects were reported.
Mehta S. Systematic review of randomized trials of treatment of male sexual partners for improved bacteria vaginosis outcomes in women. Sex Transm Dis. 2012. p. 822–30.
2.
Berić B, Popović D. Medicinska knjiga: Beograd-Zagreb. 1975.
3.
Nyirjesy P. Management of persistent vaginitis. Obstet Gynecol. 2014. p. 1135–46.
4.
Gonçalves B, Ferreira C, Alves T, Henriques C, Azeredo M, Silva J, et al. Vulvovaginal candidiasis: Epidemiology, microbiology and risk factors. Crit Rev Microbiol. 2016. p. 905–27.
5.
Beyitler I, Kavukcu S. Clinical presentation, diagnosis and treatment of vulvovaginitis in girls: a current approach and review of the literature. World J Pediatr. 2017. p. 101–5.
6.
Babu G, Singaravelu B, Srikumar R, Reddy S, Kokan A. Comparative study on the vaginal flora and incidence of asymptomatic vaginosis among healthy women and in women with infertility problems of reproductive age. J Clin Diagn Res. 2017. p. C18-22.
7.
Aviva. Botanical Medicine for Woman’s Health. 1 st ed. Churcill Livingstone; 2009.
8.
González-Burgos E, Mp GS. Natural products for vulvovaginal candidiasis treatment: Evidence from clinical trials. Curr Top Med Chem. 2018. p. 1324–32.
9.
Karaman I, Bogavac M, Radovanović B, Sudji J, Tešanović K, Janjušević L. Origanum vulgare essential oil affects pathogens causing vaginal infections. J Appl Microbiol. 2017. p. 1177–85.
10.
Jøraholmen W, Basnet M, P, Tostrup J, Moueffaq M, Škalko-Basnet S, et al. Localized therapy of vaginal infections and inflammation: liposomes-inhydrogel delivery system for polyphenols. Pharmaceutics. 2019. p. 53.
11.
Lin Z, Lin Y, Zhang Z, Shen J, Yang C, Jiang M, et al. Systematic analysis of bacteriostatic mechanism of flavonoids using transcriptome and its therapeutic effect on vaginitis. Aging (Albany NY). 2020. p. 6292–305.
12.
Duarte De Freitas A, Kaplum V, Rossi P, D, Roque Da Silva B, L, et al. Proanthocyanidin polymeric tannins from Stryphnodendron adstringens are effective against Candida spp. isolates and for vaginal candidiasis treatment. J Ethnopharmacol. 2018. p. 184–90.
13.
Medicines E, Agency. Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products: European Union herbal monograph on Matricaria recutita L., aetheroleum.
14.
Medicines E, Agency. Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products: European Union herbal monograph on Calendula officinalis L., flos. 27AD.
15.
Medicines E, Agency. Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products: Community herbal monograph on Hypericum perforatum L., Herba. Doc. 2009.
16.
Medicines E, Agency. Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products: Community herbal monograph on Achillea millefolium L., Herba. 12 July. 2011.
17.
Medicines E, Agency. Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products Community herbal monograph on Capsella bursa-pastoris (L.) Medikus, Herba. 25 November. 2010.
18.
Cha M, J, Suh S, Lee W, Subedi T, L, et al. Phenolic glycosides from Capsella bursapastoris (L.) Medik and their anti-inflammatory activity. Molecules. 2017. p. 1023.
19.
Peng J, Hu T, Li J, Du J, Zhu K, Cheng B, et al. Shepherd’s purse polyphenols exert its anti-inflammatory and antioxidative effects associated with suppressing MAPK and NF-κB pathways and heme oxygenase-1 activation. Oxid Med Cell Longev. 2019. p. 1–14.
20.
Saffari E, Mohammad A, Adibpour M, Mirghafourvand M, Javadzadeh Y. Comparing the effects of Calendula officinalis and clotrimazole on vaginal candidiasis: a randomized controlled trial. Women Health. 2017. p. 1145–60.
21.
Pazyar N, Yaghoobi R, Ni B, Kazerouni A. A review of applications of tea tree oil in dermatology. Int J Dermatol. 2013. p. 784–90.
22.
Bosak Z, Iravani M, Moghimipour E, Haghighizadeh M, Jelodarian P, Khazdair M. Evaluation of the influence of chamomile vaginal gel on dyspareunia and sexual satisfaction in postmenopausal women: A randomized, double-blind, controlled clinical trial. Avicenna J Phytomed. 2020. p. 481–91.
23.
Wölfle U, Seelinger G, Schempp C. Topical application of St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum). Planta Med. 2014. p. 109–20.
24.
Carson C, Hammer K, Riley T. Melaleuca alternifolia (Tea Tree) oil: a review of antimicrobial and other medicinal properties. Clin Microbiol Rev. 2006. p. 50–62.
25.
Golab M, Skwarlo S. Mechanisms involved in the anti-inflammatory action of inhaled tea tree oil in mice. Exp Biol Med. 2007. p. 420–6.
26.
Cordeiro L, Figueiredo P, Souza H, Sousa A, Andrade-Júnior F, Medeiros D, et al. Terpinen-4-ol as an antibacterial and antibiofilm agent against Staphylococcus aureus. Int J Mol Sci. 2020. p. 4531.
27.
Sharifi-Rad J, Salehi B, Varoni E, Sharopov F, Yousaf Z, Ayatollahi S, et al. Plants of the Melaleuca genus as antimicrobial agents: From farm to pharmacy. Phytother Res. 2017. p. 1475–94.
28.
Hammer K, Carson C, Riley T. In vitro susceptibilities of lactobacilli and organisms associated with bacterial vaginosis to Melaleuca alternifolia (tea tree) oil. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1999. p. 196.
29.
Vito D, Mattarelli M, Modesto P, Girolamo M, Ballardini A, Tamburro M, et al. In vitro activity of tea tree oil vaginal suppositories against Candida spp. and probiotic vaginal microbiota. Phytother Res. 2015. p. 1628–33.
30.
Barnes J, Arnason J, Roufogalis B. St John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum L.): botanical, chemical, pharmacological and clinical advances. J. Pharm. Pharmacol. 2019. p. 1–3.
31.
Vito D, Fracchiolla M, Mattarelli G, Modesto P, Tamburro M, Padula A, et al. Mondello F. Probiotic and tea tree oil treatments improve therapy of vaginal candidiasis: A Preliminary clinical study. Med J Obstet Gynecol. 2016. p. 1090.
32.
Bölgen N, Demir D, Yalçın M, Özdemir S. Development of Hypericum perforatum oil incorporated antimicrobial and antioxidant chitosan cryogel as a wound dressing material. Int J Biol Macromol. 2020. p. 1581–90.
33.
Francisconi S, R, Huacho M, P, Tonon C, C, et al. Antibiofilm efficacy of tea tree oil and of its main component terpinen-4-ol against Candida albicans. Braz Oral Res. 2020. p. 50.
34.
Homayouni A, Bastani P, Ziyadi S, Mohammad A, Ghalibaf M, Mortazavian A, et al. Effects of probiotics on the recurrence of bacterial vaginosis: a review. J Low Genit Tract Dis. 2014. p. 79–86.
35.
Cha J, Suh W, Lee T, Subedi L, Kim S, Lee K. Phenolic glycosides from Capsella bursa-pastoris (L.) Medik and their anti-inflammatory activity. Molecules. 2017. p. 1023.
36.
Szakiel A, Ruszkowski D, Janiszowska W. Saponins in Calendula officinalis L. -structure, biosynthesis, transport and biological activity. Phytochemistry Reviews. 2005. p. 51–158.
37.
Faubion S, Rullo J. Sexual Dysfunction in Women: A Practical Approach. Am Fam Physician. 2015. p. 281–8.
38.
Van Kessel K, Assefi N, Marrazzo J, Eckert L. Common complementary and alternative therapies for yeast vaginitis and bacterial vaginosis: a systematic review. Obstet Gynecol Surv. 2003. p. 351–8.
The statements, opinions and data contained in the journal are solely those of the individual authors and contributors and not of the publisher and the editor(s). We stay neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
,
