Effect of oral capsule of Peganum harmala seeds on bone density in menopausal women prone to osteoporosis

Background and aims: Osteoporosis is one of the most common metabolic bone diseases with systemic involvement of the body skeleton.The Peganum harmala seed contains high amounts of carboline alkaloids, which have been shown to have positive effects on boneformation in animal studies. In the present study, the effect of an oral capsule of P. harmala seed on bone density was evaluated inmenopausal women prone to osteoporosis.Methods: In this randomized controlled clinical trial, ۱۰۰ women referring to the orthopedic clinic with a diagnosis of osteoporosis wereincluded and divided into the intervention group treated with calcium D (۵۰۰ mg) twice a day, Osteofos (۷۰ mg) per week, and P. harmala(۵۰۰ mg) twice‐a‐day, and the control group treated with calcium D and Osteofos. Before and three months after the intervention, patientswere evaluated for osteoporosis using bone densitometry. Finally, independent t-test, paired t-test, and repeated measures ANOVA wereused for statistical analysis.Results: The mean bone mineral density (BMD) of the femur before and after the intervention showed significant improvements in theintervention and control groups (P < ۰.۰۰۱). The mean differences in BMD before and after the intervention were significant in both controland intervention groups with higher improvements in the intervention group (P < ۰.۰۰۱). Although the mean BMD of the spine before theintervention was not significantly different between the two groups (P = ۰.۱۶۷), it was better in the intervention group after the intervention(P = ۰.۰۳۰).Conclusion: The findings of the present study confirmed the beneficial effects of P. harmala on osteoporosis while the lack of any changesin liver enzymes.

Keywords:

Peganum harmala , Bone mineral density , Osteoporosis , Liver enzyme , Calcium , Vitamin D