How Much Pumpkin Seed To Control Over Active Bladder

J Tradit Complement Med. 2014 Jan-Mar; 4(1): 72–74.

Pumpkin Seed Oil Extracted From Cucurbita maxima Improves Urinary Disorder in Human being Overactive Bladder

Mie Nishimura

¹Section of Medical Direction and Information science, Hokkaido Information University, Ebetsu 069-441, Nihon.

⁴Section of Enquiry and Development, Hokkaido Nutrient Industry Promotion Organization, Sapporo, Japan.

Tatsuya Ohkawara

^oneSection of Medical Management and Informatics, Hokkaido Information University, Ebetsu 069-441, Japan.

²Pathophysiology and Therapeutics, Hokkaido University Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sapporo, Nihon.

Hiroji Sato

³Section of Enquiry and Development, Hokushin Foods, Co. Ltd, Ebetsu, Nihon.

Hiroshi Takeda

²Pathophysiology and Therapeutics, Hokkaido University Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sapporo, Japan.

Jun Nishihira

ⁱDepartment of Medical Management and Informatics, Hokkaido Data Academy, Ebetsu 069-441, Nihon.

Abstract

The pumpkin seed oil obtained from Cucurbita pepo has been shown to be useful for the treatment of nocturia in patients with urinal disorders in several western countries. In this study, we evaluated the outcome of the pumpkin seed oil from Cucurbita maxima on urinary dysfunction in human being overactive bladder (OAB). Forty-v subjects were enrolled in this study. An excerpt of pumpkin seed oil from C. maxima (10 g of oil/day) was orally administrated for 12 weeks. After 6 and 12 weeks, urinary role was evaluated using Overactive Bladder Symptom Score (OABSS). Pumpkin seed oil from C. maxima significantly reduced the caste of OABSS in the subjects. The results from our study advise that pumpkin seed oil extracts from C. maxima as well as from C. pepo are effective for urinary disorders such as OAB in humans.

Keywords: Cucurbita maxima, Overactive bladder, Pumpkin seed oil

INTRODUCTION

The prevalence of urinary disorders such equally nocturia and associated symptoms gradually increases with age, and has a bang-up influence on the quality of life.[1,two] Elderly people with nocturia are at groovy risk for bone fracture and mortality.[3] Thus, prevention and treatment of urinary disorders are expected to amend this trouble. Overactive bladder (OAB), a common urinary disorder, is well known and defined by the International Continence Society (ICS) equally a syndrome with urgency, with or without urge incontinence, usually with frequency and nocturia.[1] OAB symptoms are commonly observed in patients with dysfunction of the lower urinary tract. Recently, the Overactive Bladder Symptom Score (OABSS) was adult and validated by Homma et al. as a useful assessment tool specifically for evaluating OAB symptoms.[4] OABSS scores are based on answers to self-assessed questions.

Pumpkin is an edible fruit found in the American and European continents and is grown in Asia and Africa. The extract of the seed is a rich source of vitamins, linoleic acid, oleic acid, and microelements. Particularly, the oil extracted from Cucurbita pepo has been useful for the treatment of urinary disorders. In previous reports, the effect of the pumpkin seed oil from C. pepo has been investigated in clinical trials involving over 2000 men suffering from beneficial prostate hypertrophy (BPH).[5] The oil significantly improved their urinary dysfunction. In an fauna study, Gossell-Williams et al. demonstrated that oil from the pumpkin seed of C. pepo inhibited testosterone-induced hyperplasia of the prostate of rats.[half-dozen] Rats treated with 0.three mg/100 g body weight of testosterone showed an increase of prostate size ratio, but administration of 2.0 or iv.0 mg/100 g body weight of pumpkin seed oil from C. pepo inhibited the prostate size ratio in rats treated with testosterone. These previous studies have antiseptic the effect of pumpkin seed oil extracted from C. pepo, but at that place has been no clinical investigation on urinary disorder treatment using any other kind of pumpkin seed oil.

In Japan, peculiarly in Hokkaido, Cucurbita maxima is the main pumpkin species grown for nutrient. Thus, numerous pumpkin seeds are bachelor here. Ojiako et al. take analyzed the composition of seeds of C. maxima as having various fatty acids, proteins, carbohydrates, and minerals.[seven] Recently, nosotros take developed a product extracted from the pumpkin seed oil of C. maxima, and we herein evaluated the effect of the product on urinary disorders in volunteers suffering from OAB symptom.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Subject and study design

Twoscore-v volunteers (male: female = 25:20; age 41-fourscore years) were enrolled in this study. Subjects were excluded if they were significant or had severe or acute diseases (e.g. cancer, infection, and acute organic failure such as heart or hepatic failure). All were older than 20 years of historic period. Ten grams of the pumpkin seed oil extracted from C. maxima was daily and orally administered in the subjects for 12 weeks. Analytical results of the composition of the pumpkin seed oil with regard to nutrients, vitamins, fatty acids, and sterols are provided in Tabular array 1. All protocols in this written report were approved by the Upstanding Committee of Hokkaido Information University, and written informed consent was obtained from all participating subjects. Demographic and medical information were obtained from the medical records and interviews at study entry. Blood samples were obtained in the morning after overnight fasting, and biochemical information concerning lipids were measured.

Table 1

Component of the pumpkin seed oil extracted from Cucurbita maxima per 100 g

An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc. Object name is JTCM-4-72-g001.jpg

Diagnosis and evaluation of OAB

To diagnose and evaluate OAB, the subjects completed the OABSS questionnaire for evaluation of daytime frequency, nighttime frequency, urgency, and urgency incontinence, as described previously.[4]

Statistical analysis

Values are expressed as means ± standard deviation (SD). All statistical analyses were conducted using IBM SPSS Statistic 19 (IBM, Armonk, NY, United states of america). The statistical differences in the results of OABSS were analyzed by Wilcoxon signed-rank test, and those in the biochemical data were analyzed using Tukey'south multiple comparing test. P < 0.05 were considered statistically significant.

RESULTS

Demographic characteristics and physical and biochemical examination

All males enrolled in this study were not diagnosed as BPH in the infirmary and did not receive the handling of BPH. Moreover, the levels of serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in all males were within normal range. 4 subjects quit the entry on their own, and three subjects were excluded because of inadequate intake of the oil. The characteristics of the enrolled subjects are summarized in Table 2. Vi and 12 weeks after the initial administration of the pumpkin seed oil, the boilerplate levels of high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-cholesterol) and low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-cholesterol) and triglyceride were substantially unchanged [Table 2]. In that location was no significant departure in the laboratory data between pre- and post-administration of the pumpkin seed oil in various age and body weight groups [Table 2].

Table ii

Clinical characteristics and biochemical data

An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc. Object name is JTCM-4-72-g002.jpg

Improvement of OABSS in subjects given pumpkin seed oil

Serial changes of total score and sub-scores of OABSS are summarized in Table 3. 6 and 12 weeks after the initial administration of pumpkin seed oil from C. maxima, the full scores were significantly decreased compared to those on day 0 [Table 3]. In detail, the scores on all parts of the questionnaire (daytime frequency, night frequency, urgency, and urgency incontinence) significantly improved in the subjects administered pumpkin seed oil from C. maxima [Table 3].

Table 3

Changes in obstructive bladder scoring system (OABSS) in all subjects given the excerpt of pumpkin seed oil (Cucurbita maxima)

An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc. Object name is JTCM-4-72-g003.jpg

Give-and-take

OAB symptoms are found in more than xv% of humans aged 40 and over, and are thought to increment with advancing historic period.[1] OABSS, a self-assessment of OAB symptoms, is recognized as a standard tool for diagnosis and evaluation of the severity of OAB, and has been used in clinical studies.[iv] Furthermore, OABSS is useful for determining the effect of treatment on urinary disorders.[viii,9] In this study, we investigated the issue of pumpkin seed oil from C. maxima by OABSS. The OABSS was remarkably reduced in subjects given pumpkin seed oil extracted from C. maxima. The effect of pumpkin seed oil obtained from C. pepo has been tested in urinary disorders and this oil is at present existence developed for cocky-medication in western countries. Friederich et al. take demonstrated that the pumpkin seed extract obtained from C. pepo improves aberrant urinary role in patients with BPH.[5] Oral administration of 500-1000 mg/day of this extract for 12 weeks caused International Prostate Symptom Scores to decrease by 41.4%. Moreover, more than 96% of the patients had no undesired side effect due to treatment with the oil. In our written report, consistent with the results of a previous written report, at that place was no astringent side effect caused by the pumpkin seed oil from C. maxima (data not shown). These results suggest that the seed extract from C. maxima is condom and well tolerated in the treatment of urinary disorders such as OAB and BPH. In our lab, biochemical assay has been carried out to identify the molecules responsible in the pumpkin seed oil to alleviate urinary tract problems, but it remains to be elucidated to date. Although the molecular mechanism of the seed oil for improvement of urinary tract disorders is not well understood from the current study, based on a previous report, it is speculated that sitosterols independent in the seed oil are responsible to alleviate these disorders.[five] As for the study design, it was an open-labeled trial because of excessive amount of oil volume required for encapsulation. To confirm the current results, nosotros plan to perform a placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trial when nosotros identify the potential molecules, which would enable united states to downsize the exam or placebo sample volume proficient enough for encapsulation.

Although we demonstrated the beneficial furnishings of pumpkin seed oil from C. maxima, our results are limited in several means. Ours was not a randomized, double-blind, and placebo-controlled report design. Recently, OABSS has been recognized as the standard system of evaluation in urinary function,[5] merely the system involves evaluation past self-cess. Furthermore, the sample size in our study was minor. Thus, further double-blind, randomized controlled study is needed to confirm the upshot of pumpkin seed oil obtained from C. maxima.

CONCLUSION

Although the results in our report are preliminary and further study is needed, our results advise that pumpkin seed oil extracted from C. maxima has the potential for prevention or treatment of urinary disorders including OAB.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We are grateful to Ms. Aiko Tanaka, Rina Kawamura, Tomoko Mino, and Megumi Shibata for their technical assistance with the data management, and we thank Mr. Jungo Hayashi for his management of the clinical trial. This study was supported, in office, by Sapporo Innovation program.

REFERENCES

1. Abrams P, Cardozo L, Autumn M, Griffiths D, Rosier P, Ulmsten U, et al. The standardisation of terminology of lower urinary tract function: Study from the Standardisation Sub-committee of the International Continence Gild. Neurourol Urodyn. 2002;21:167–78. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

two. Abrams P, Kelleher CJ, Kerr LA, Rogers RG. Overactive float significantly affects quality of life. Am J Manag Care. 2000;6(Suppl 11):S580–90. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

3. Nakagawa H, Niu K, Hozawa A, Ikeda Y, Kaiho Y, Ohmori-Matsuda K, et al. Impact of nocturia on bonefracture and mortality in older individuals: A Japanese longitudinal cohort report. J Urol. 2010;184:1413–8. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

4. Homma Y, Yoshida M, Seki Due north, Yokoyama O, Kakizaki H, Gotoh Thou, et al. Symptom assessment tool for overactive bladder syndrome: Overactive bladder symptom score. Urology. 2006;68:318–23. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

five. Friederich M, Theurer C, Schiebel-Schlosser Thou. Prosta Fink Forte capsules in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia. Multicentric surveillance study in 2245 patients. Forsch Komplementarmed Klass Naturheilkd. 2000;seven:200–iv. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

6. Gossell-Williams M, Davis A, O'Connor Northward. Inhibition of testosterone-induced hyperplasia of the prostate of Sprague-Dawley rats past pumpkin seed oil. J Med Food. 2006;9:284–half-dozen. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

7. Ojiako OA, Ogbuji CA, Agha NC, Onwuliri VA. The proximate, mineral, and toxicant compositions of 4 possible food security crops from southeastern. Nigeria. J Med Nutrient. 2010;13:1203–9. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

eight. Wada North, Watanabe Chiliad, Kita Chiliad, Matsumoto Due south, Osanai H, Yamaguchi South, et al. Effect of imidafenacin on nocturia and sleep disorder in patients with overactive float. Urol Int. 2012;89:215–21. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

nine. Homma Y, Kakizaki H, Yamaguchi O, Yamanishi T, Nishizawa O, Yokoyama O, et al. Assessment of overactive bladder symptoms: Comparison of 3-day bladder diary and the overactive bladder symptoms score. Urology. 2011;77:60–4. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Traditional and Complementary Medicine are provided here courtesy of Elsevier