Effect of pomegranate extract on vagina, skeleton, metabolic and endocrine profiles in an ovariectomized rat model.

AIM: Many women need estrogen therapy because of menopausal complaints. It is suggested that pomegranate plant has estrogenic effect. Aim of the study was to examine the effects of pomegranate seed extract on menopausal changes.

METHODS: This study was conducted in an experimental environment with 23 Wistar Albino genus female rats. Sixteen rats were divided into two groups after ovariectomy. One group (SG) was fed with standard food and the pomegranate extract was added to drinking water of the other group (PG). Seven rats were identified as the sham group for the detection of basal values. At the end of 90 days, follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), estradiol, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL)-cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL)-cholesterol, triglyceride, tibial bone cortex thickness and vaginal epithelium thickness of the groups were compared.

RESULTS: FSH, total-cholesterol and HDL-cholesterol levels were similar among the three groups (P > 0.05), while others were different (P < 0.05). In binary comparisons (PG vs SG), estradiol level (average ± standard deviation [SD]: 252 ± 43 vs 154 ± 26 pg/mL), tibial bone cortex thickness (58 ± 7 vs 40 ± 2 μm) and vaginal epithelium thickness (21 ± 7 vs 10 ± 4 μm) were significantly higher in PG. In PG, triglyceride levels (103 ± 26 vs 87 ± 41 mg/dL) were higher and LDL-cholesterol levels were lower (20 ± 8 vs 27 ± 8 mg/dL), but these differences were not significant.

CONCLUSION: In rats fed with pomegranate extract, estradiol levels increased and tibial bone cortex thickness and vaginal epithelium thickness also increased. Pomegranate itself or its formulation extracts may be a support or an alternative to the main treatment modalities in the preservation of bone density and the treatment of vaginal epithelial atrophy.