Effect of Herbal Medicine on Vaginal Epithelial Cells: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

OBJECTIVES: The present meta-analysis aimed to assess the effect of the herbal medicine on the vaginal epithelial cells (VECs) among the menopausal subjects. METHODS: The literature related to VECs exposed to various herbal medicines in menopausal women were searched on three databases, MEDLINE (1966–August 2017), Scopus (1990–August 2017) and Cochrane Library (Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials; 2014). RESULTS: Totally, the meta-analysis was conducted on 11 randomised controlled trials. Based on the findings, the standardized mean difference (SMD) of maturation value (MV) was observed to be elevated by 0.48% (95% interval confidence [CI], 0.108–0.871; P = 0.012), as well as the heterogeneity was high (I(2) = 84%; P < 0.001). The MV revealed a significant increase in soy group (SMD, 0.358; 95% CI, 0.073–0.871; P = 0.014) compared to the control group. CONCLUSIONS: The herbal medicines exhibited a statistically significant effect on the VECs. A significant effect on the VECs was also found in the subgroup analysis of the patients, who received soy. However, further and extensive studies are required to achieve reliable outcomes.