The 4-month effect of Vitex agnus-castus plant on sexual function of women of reproductive age: A clinical trial

BACKGROUND: Sexual dysfunction in women is a common disorder. Yet, there is no consensus on its treatment. Few studies have shown that Vitex agnus-castus improves sexual dysfunction in postmenopausal women; the present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of V. agnus-castus on the female sexual function in the reproductive age. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a double-blinded randomized control clinical trial on the women of reproductive age referred to the gynecology clinic of Al-Zahra Medical Center in Rasht, Iran, from February 2018 to December 2019. The intervention group received Agnugol tablet containing 3.2-4.8 mg dried extract V. agnus-castus (51 participants) and the control group received a placebo tablet (51 participants). All participants received one tablet daily for 16 weeks. The participants were asked to complete the Female Sexual Function Index questionnaire at the beginning of the study and after 4, 8, 12, and 16 weeks. Data were analyzed in SPSS statistics (version 21) using Chi-square test, t-test, Mann-Whitney U-test, analysis of variance, and mixed model to examine the differences between the groups. RESULTS: The results showed that the difference between the two groups was not significant in each domain, but there was a significant difference in the overall sexual function mean score so that the intervention group had a higher score than the placebo group after 16 weeks (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: In the present study, it was observed that the consumption of V. agnus-castus during 16 weeks was more effective than the placebo in improving sexual dysfunction. Further studies with larger sample sizes are needed to be able to decide on the prescription of this drug in the clinics.