Association between endometriosis and hyperprolactinemia in infertile women

The association of endometriosis with hyperprolactinemia is controversial. The present study aimed to determine the frequency of endometriosis and association of prolactin with endometriosis in infertile women. 256 infertile women who underwent diagnostic laparoscopy for the evaluation of infertility, referred to Fatemezahra Infertility and Reproductive Health Research Center were included in a cross-sectional study. The presence of endometriosis was evaluated. To investigate the association of endometriosis with hyperprolactinemia, the patients whose infertility was not caused by endometriosis were included as control group. Serum prolactin [PRL] level was measured in both groups. The comparison of basal serum PRL levels between the two groups was performed, using independent t-test. One way ANOVA was used to determine PRL association with endometriosis stages. The frequency of endometriosis was found to be 29%. PRL levels were significantly higher in endometriosis group compared to control group [23.02 +/- 1.25 vs. 17.22 +/- 1.22 respectively, p=0.004]. Statistically significant associations were found between staging of endometriosis and prolactin levels [p=0.01]. Hyperprolactinemia may be associated with endometriosis and its progression

Effect of medicinal herbs on primary dysmenorrhoea-a systematic review

Conventional treatment for primary dysmenorrhoea has a failure rate of 20% to 25% and may be contraindicated or not tolerated by some women. Herbal medicine may be a suitable alternative. The objective of the manuscript, is determine the efficacy and safety of some Iranian herbal medicine for primary dysmenorrhea when compared with placebo, no treatment, and other treatment. For this target electronic searches of the Cochrane Menstrual Disorders and Dysmenorrhoea Group Register of controlled trials, Scopus, Google Scholar, Medline, Pubmed were performed to identify relevant randomized controlled trials [RCTs]. The study abstraction and quality assessment of all studies were undertaken following the detailed descriptions of these categories as described in the JADAD Criteria for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. 25 RCTs involving a total of women were included in the review. The review found promising evidence in the form of RCTs for the use of herbal medicine in the treatment of primary dysmenorrhoea compared with pharmacological treatment. However, the results were limited by methodological flaws. Further rigorous no penetrating placebo-controlled RCTs are warranted. The review found promising evidence supporting the use of herbal medicine for primary dysmenorrhoea; however, results are limited by the poor methodological quality of the included trials

Does adding dexamethasone to clomiphene citrate improve ovulation in PCOS patients? a triple - blind randomized clinical trial study

A common cause of anovulation is polycystic ovarian syndrome [PCOS]. Clomiphene citrate [CC] is the first line of treatment in PCOS patients however approximately 25% of patients may be CC-resistant. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of adding dexamethasone [dex] to CC in CC-resistant PCOS patients with the intent to improve ovulation. This randomized controlled trial study was performed on 60 infertile PCOS patients referred to our infertility research center from 2007 to 2009. Patients were randomly divided in two groups and stimulation performed with dex+CC or CC+placebo. Rates of ovulation, pregnancy and number of mature follicles were evaluated. Ovulation rate in the dex+CC group was 21 out of 30 [70%] and in the CC+placebo group it was 17 out of 30 [56.7%]. The pregnancy rate was 5 [16.7%] in the dex+CC group and 3 [10%] in the CC+placebo group. There was no significant difference between rates of ovulation and pregnancy in both groups, but the number of follicles >/= 18 mm were significant in the dex+CC group [p<0.05]. Our results showed that addition of dex to CC significantly increased the number of matured follicles, however the ovulation and pregnancy rates were comparable between the two groups