J Menopausal Med.  2016 Aug;22(2):62-64. 10.6118/jmm.2016.22.2.62.

Hops for Menopausal Vasomotor Symptoms: Mechanisms of Action

• Abdi F
• Mobedi H
• Roozbeh N

• KMID: 2365459
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.6118/jmm.2016.22.2.62

Abstract

Menopause is a critical stage of women's life associated with various complaints and distresses. Vasomotor symptoms (VMS), such as hot flushes, night sweats, sleep disturbances, and fatigue, are the most common menopause symptoms affecting about 50% to 80% of middle-aged women. Obviously, these symptoms, resulting from estrogen deficiency during menopause, can exert negative effects on women's health and quality of life and thus require to be managed through approaches such as hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Many herbal treatments for menopause symptoms contain and its components such as 8-prenylnaringenin, 6-PN, isoxanthohumol and xanthohumol. Recent in-vivo studies have highlighted the ability of 8-prenylnaringenin to reduce serum-luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), to increase serum prolactin levels and uterine weight, and to induce vaginal hyperplastic epithelium. Previous research has shown that hops extract can strongly bind to both estrogen receptors, stimulate alkaline phosphatase activity in Ishikawa cells, and upregulate presenelin-2 and progesterone receptor mRNA in Ishikawa cells. Numerous clinical trials have documented significant reductions in the frequency of hot flushes following the administration of hop-containing preparations. Nevertheless, further clinical trials with larger sample size and longer follow-up are warranted to confirm such benefits.

Keyword

Hormone replacement therapy; Hot flashes; Humulus; Menopause

MeSH Terms

Alkaline Phosphatase
Epithelium
Estrogens
Fatigue
Female
Follicle Stimulating Hormone
Follow-Up Studies
Hormone Replacement Therapy
Hot Flashes
Humans
Humulus*
Menopause
Prolactin
Quality of Life
Receptors, Estrogen
Receptors, Progesterone
RNA, Messenger
Sample Size
Sweat
Women's Health
Alkaline Phosphatase
Estrogens
Follicle Stimulating Hormone
Prolactin
RNA, Messenger
Receptors, Estrogen
Receptors, Progesterone

Reference

1. Abdi F, Kazemi F, Ramezani Tehrani F, Roozbeh N. Protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis: hop (Humulus lupulus L.) for menopausal vasomotor symptoms. BMJ Open. 2016; 6:e010734.

2. Dennerstein L, Lehert P, Burger HG, Guthrie JR. New findings from non-linear longitudinal modelling of menopausal hormone changes. Hum Reprod Update. 2007; 13:551–557.

3. Abdi F, Mobedi H, Mosaffa N, Dolatian M, Ramezani Tehrani F. Effects of hormone replacement therapy on immunological factors in the postmenopausal period. Climacteric. 2016; 19:234–239.

4. Shobeiri F, Jenabi E, Hazavehei SM, Roshanaei G. Quality of life in postmenopausal women in Iran: a population-based study. J Menopausal Med. 2016; 22:31–38.

5. Birrer N, Chinchilla C, Del Carmen M, Dizon DS. Is hormone replacement therapy safe in women with a BRCA mutation?: A systematic review of the contemporary literature. Am J Clin Oncol. 2016.

6. Abdi F, Mobedi H, Mosaffa N, Dolatian M, Ramezani Tehrani F. Hormone therapy for relieving postmenopausal vasomotor symptoms: A systematic review. Arch Iran Med. 2016; 19:141–146.

7. van Breemen RB, Yuan Y, Banuvar S, Shulman LP, Qiu X, Alvarenga RF, et al. Pharmacokinetics of prenylated hop phenols in women following oral administration of a standardized extract of hops. Mol Nutr Food Res. 2014; 58:1962–1969.

8. Milligan SR, Kalita JC, Pocock V, Van De Kauter V, Stevens JF, Deinzer ML, et al. The endocrine activities of 8-prenylnaringenin and related hop (Humulus lupulus L.) flavonoids. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2000; 85:4912–4915.

9. Schaefer O, Humpel M, Fritzemeier KH, Bohlmann R, Schleuning WD. 8-Prenyl naringenin is a potent ERalpha selective phytoestrogen present in hops and beer. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2003; 84:359–360.

10. Kim MY, Choi SD, Ryu A. Is complementary and alternative therapy effective for women in the climacteric period? J Menopausal Med. 2015; 21:28–35.

11. Mohammad-Alizadeh-Charandabi S, Mirghafourvand M, Aghamiri V, Nazemiyeh H, Soltanpoor S. Efficacy of hop (Humuluslupulus L.) on early menopausal symptoms in perimenopausal women: A randomized double blind placebo-controlled trial. Sci J Kurdistān Univ Med Sci. 2014; 19:12–22.

12. Bowe J, Li XF, Kinsey-Jones J, Heyerick A, Brain S, Milligan S, et al. The hop phytoestrogen, 8-prenylnaringenin, reverses the ovariectomy-induced rise in skin temperature in an animal model of menopausal hot flushes. J Endocrinol. 2006; 191:399–405.

13. Zanoli P, Zavatti M. Pharmacognostic and pharmacological profile of Humulus lupulus L. J Ethnopharmacol. 2008; 116:383–396.

14. Erkkola R, Vervarcke S, Vansteelandt S, Rompotti P, De Keukeleire D, Heyerick A. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over pilot study on the use of a standardized hop extract to alleviate menopausal discomforts. Phytomedicine. 2010; 17:389–396.

15. Heyerick A, Vervarcke S, Depypere H, Bracke M, De Keukeleire D. A first prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study on the use of a standardized hop extract to alleviate menopausal discomforts. Maturitas. 2006; 54:164–175.

16. Christoffel J, Rimoldi G, Wuttke W. Effects of 8-prenylnaringenin on the hypothalamo-pituitary-uterine axis in rats after 3-month treatment. J Endocrinol. 2006; 188:397–405.

17. Aghamiri V, Mirghafourvand M, Mohammad-Alizadeh-Charandabi S, Nazemiyeh H. The effect of Hop (Humulus lupulus L.) on early menopausal symptoms and hot flashes: A randomized placebo-controlled trial. Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2016; 23:130–135.

18. Rosic S, Kendic S, Rosic M. Phytoestrogens impact on menopausal symptomatology. Mater Sociomed. 2013; 25:98–100.