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Herbs with Antidepressant Effects
Published in Scott Mendelson, Herbal Treatment of Major Depression, 2019
The fruit and leaves of the tree contain a complicated mix of phytochemicals, including flavonoids, iridoid glycosides, alkaloids, essential oils, fatty oils, diterpenoids, and steroids.4 Among those phytochemicals – some that are shared with other medicinal species and others that are unique to Vitex agnus-castus – are: vitexin, casticin, agnuside, aucubin, apigenin, thujene, pinene, sabinene, myrcene, terpinene, limonene, cineole, linalool, cryptone, citronellol, cumin aldehyde, carvacrol, b-caryophyllene, farnesene, myristicin, and scores of others.5
The pharmacotherapeutic management of premenstrual dysphoric disorder
Published in Expert Opinion on Pharmacotherapy, 2023
Nancy Ciccone, Maya B. Kovacheff, Benicio N. Frey
Certain vitamins and complementary medicines have demonstrated efficacy in alleviating premenstrual symptoms in placebo-controlled trials. For instance, 600 mg of elemental calcium taken twice daily alleviated water retention and improved affect, food cravings, and pain after three months of treatment [41]. Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) 100 mg daily demonstrated moderate benefit in treating premenstrual symptoms [42]. Vitex agnus castus (chasteberry) is a plant with active compounds that affect hormones, neurotransmitters, pain and the opioid pathways [43]. Notwithstanding the methodological limitations of previous placebo-controlled trials, independent systematic reviews have provided evidence for vitex agnus castus as a treatment option for management of PMDD [44–46].
Essential Oils from Vitex agnus castus L. Leaves Induces Caspase-Dependent Apoptosis of Human Multidrug-Resistant Lung Carcinoma Cells through Intrinsic and Extrinsic Pathways
Published in Nutrition and Cancer, 2020
In the current study, the EO content of Vitex agnus castus L. leaves was investigated for the first time. The major compounds are identified as 1,8-cineole (12.45%), carbazole (11.04%), eucalyptol (10.93%), oleic acid (7.42%), caryophyllene (6.32%). Moreover, the EOs from the VAC leaves were investigated for their potential antioxidant, cytotoxic and apoptotic effects. The results indicated strong antioxidant activity and cytotoxic effect on human multi-drug resistant H69AR cancer cells. However, VAC EOs were not cytotoxic to HEK-293 human normal cells even at the highest concentrations indicating the tumor-specific effect of the extract. VAC EOs induced cell death through triggering both extrinsic- and intrinsic-apoptotic pathways by modulating Bcl-2, Bcl-XL, Bad, Bax, Caspase-8, Caspase-9, TRAIL R1/DR4 and TRAIL R2/DR5 in multi-drug resistant H69AR cancer cells. This study revealed that VAC EOs may be a promising candidate in the development of novel therapeutic agents for lung cancer treatment.
Effects of a combination of Nigella sativa and Vitex agnus-castus with citalopram on healthy menopausal women with hot flashes: results from a subpopulation analysis
Published in Gynecological Endocrinology, 2019
Maryam Molaie, Behrad Darvishi, Zahra Jafari Azar, Mahboobeh Shirazi, Gholamreza Amin, Shima Afshar
Being well established and widely recognized to be safe, growing interest is focused on applying herbal medicine for the treatment of menopausal symptoms including hot flashes in normal women. Several studies have proposed Nigella sativa as an outstanding and multidimensional herb with several beneficial effects on various body organs [15–17] and based on its traditional application on promoting lactation and menstrual disorders, it seems to be an effective treatment in hormonal deficiency including menopausal symptoms. From the other side, Vitex agnus-castus is one of the phytotherapeutics found in most of the menopausal formulations. For instance, in randomized clinical trials, V. agnus-castus as a constituent of herbal menopausal formulations has been demonstrated to be significantly more efficient in reducing the incidence of menopausal hot flashes and night sweats compared with placebo and has also been shown to demonstrate positive effects on premenstrual syndrome [18–20].