Neurovegetative disorders of perimenopausal women treated with docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 625 mg)

Abstract

The study evaluated the effect of DHA 625 mg in women who experience menopausal symptoms, on sexuality and quality of life (QoL), and on the auditory brainstem response (ABR). Forty-two perimenopausal women were enrolled. The Kupperman Index (KI) was used to evaluate menopause symptoms. The Short Form-36 (SF-36), Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), and the Female Sexual Distress Scale (FSDS) were used to assess QoL, sexual function, and sexual distress, respectively. Auditory evoked potentials to measure the ABR. The study had one follow-up at 6 months. The women reported an improvement in the KI total score (p < .001). Moreover, women reported QoL improvements in all the psychological categories (p < .001), but not in physical categories (p = NS). FSFI and FSDS total scores increased (p < .01) and the FSDS score decreased (p < .01), mainly due to arousal (p < .03) and lubrication (p < .05) sexual aspects. The ABR wave latencies were lower than the baseline values (p < .05). DHA could be effective in modulating some perimenopausal symptoms in women and, consequently could contribute to improve their QoL and sexual life. Finally, DHA seems to have a direct activity on the neuronal conduction time into the audiological system.

Chinese abstract

本研究评估了625mg的DHA对于绝经期女性的性生活质量、生活质量（QoL）以及听性脑干反应（ABR）的影响。入组42名围绝经期女性, 分别使用Kupperman指数（KI）评估更年期症状、健康调查简表（SF-36）评估生活质量、女性性功能指数（FSFI）评估性功能、女性性功能障碍评估量表（FSDS）评估性功能障碍程度以及听觉诱发电位检测听性脑干反应（ABR）。6个月进行一次随访。入组女性KI总分有所上升（p <0.001）。此外, 所有心理类型的女性生活质量有所改善（p <0.001）, 但在生理类型中却不如人意（p = NS）。由于觉醒（p <0.03）和润滑(p < 0.05)的影响, FSFI和FSDS总分增加（p <0.01）, FSDS评分下降（p <0.01）。 ABR波的潜伏期低于基线值（p <0.05）。 DHA可通过有效调节女性某些围绝经期症状, 从而改善其生活质量和性生活质量。最后, DHA似乎对听觉系统的神经元传导时间有直接影响。

Keywords:

• Auditory evoked potential
• DHA
• perimenopausal symptoms
• quality of life
• sexual life

Acknowledgements

We wish to thank the Scientific Bureau of the University of Catania for language support.

Ethical approval: This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of our Department.

Informed consent: Informed consent was obtained from all participants included in the study.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and the writing of the paper.