Efficacy of Tribulus Terrestris for the treatment of premenopausal women with hypoactive sexual desire disorder: a randomized double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial

Abstract

Although hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) is the most common sexual complaint, there is no consensus for the ideal treatment. Our study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of treating premenopausal women with HSDD with Tribulus terrestris and its effect on the serum levels of testosterone. We performed a prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, with 40 premenopausal women reporting diminished libido, receiving T. terrestris or placebo. The questionnaires FSFI and the QS-F were used to evaluate sexual dysfunction before and after treatment. Patients treated with T. terrestris experienced improvement in total score of FSFI (p < .001) and domains “desire” (p < .001), “sexual arousal” (p = .005), “lubrication” (p = .001), “orgasm” (p <.001), “pain” (p = .030) and “satisfaction” (p = .001). Treatment with placebo did not improve the scores for the “lubrication” and “pain”. QS-F scores showed that patients using T. terrestris had improvements in “desire” (p = .012), “sexual arousal/lubrication” (p = .002), “pain” (p = .031), “orgasm” (p = .004) and “satisfaction” (p = .001). Women treated with placebo did not score improvements. Women receiving T. terrestris had increased levels of free (p = .046) and bioavailable (p < .048) testosterone. T. terrestris might be a safe alternative for the treatment of premenopausal women with HSDD as it was effective in reducing the symptoms, probably due to an increase in the serum levels of free and bioavailable testosterone.

Chinese abstract

虽然性欲减退（HSDD）是最常见的性问题, 但对于理想的治疗却没有共识。我们研究的目的是评估蒺藜治疗绝经前妇女HSDD的疗效以及对血清睾酮水平的影响。我们进行了一项前瞻性、随机、双盲、安慰剂对照试验, 40名绝经前性欲减退的妇女接收蒺藜或安慰剂治疗。治疗前后采用FSFI和QS-F问卷对性功能障碍进行评估。蒺藜治疗组患者FSFI总分明显改善, ”性欲” (p<.001), ”性唤起”(p=.005), “阴道润滑”（P=.001）, ”性高潮”（P < 0.001）, ”性交痛”（P=.030）和”性满意”（P=.001）。安慰剂组患者评分无明显改善。蒺藜治疗组女性游离（p=.046）和生物活性睾酮水平升高(p < .048)。蒺藜可能是治疗绝经前女性HSDD的一种安全的选择, 因为它可以提高游离和生物活性睾酮水平。

Keywords:

• Testosterone
• Tribulus terrestris
• premenopause
• hypoactive sexual desire disorder

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Herbarium for the kind supply of Tribulus terrestris and placebo.

Disclosure statement

The study had no financial support.

The authors state explicitly that there are no conflicts of interest in connection with this article.