The effect of vaginally administered genistein in comparison with hyaluronic acid in post menopause

The effect of vaginally administered genistein in comparison with hyaluronic acid on atrophic epithelium in post menopause.

Article specifications

This prospective, randomized, double blind clinical trial was published in 2011 in Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics (IF 2016:1.24) by Italian gynecologists. In this a total of 62 postmenopausal women (post menopause since at least 2 years and the presence of a symptomatic and cyto-colposcopically evident vaginal atrophy) were randomly assigned to receive intravaginally 97 g of genistein (ISoflavon) (group A, n = 31) or 5 mg of HA(group B, n = 31) daily for 15 days continuously/month for 3 months. Vaginal and cervical smear, colposcopy, vaginal biopsy were performed before and at the end of the study. Maturation value (MV) was calculated. Flow cytometry analysis of DNA ploidy (DI) and S-phase fraction (SPF) were performed.

Results

The results of the study showed that both treatments improved genital symptoms, colposcopical features and MV, although genistein was more effective on genital score.  Both treatments did not significantly influence flow cytometry parameters, although genistein showed slight decrease in DI, with a normalization of the aneuploid content present in some cases that could represent an additional application of intravaginal phytoestrogen therapy, providing an alternative therapy of vaginal atrophy in postmenopausal patients. The results of this investigation should be considered preliminary and need to be verified in larger, prospective studies.