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Gender pharmacology in herbal medicinal products: Data from the PhytoVIS study

Gender pharmacology in herbal medicinal products: Data from the PhytoVIS study
Prof Dr Karen Nieber (Kooperation Phytopharmaka GbR, Bonn and University of Leipzig, Institute of Pharmacy, Leipzig, Germany)

Gender differences in the safety and efficacy of medicinal products are increasingly attracting attention, also as they are a precondition for personalized medicine. However, for medicinal plants and herbal medicinal products, data are rare. To address this gap, data from the PhytoVIS study, presumably the world”s largest pharmacoepidemiological study on the use of herbal medicinal products, were assessed.
The PhytoVIS data set contains information on epidemiology of patients and therapeutic indications, efficacy and tolerability of herbal medicinal products used by them, which have been
captured in pharmacies and in doctor´s practices in Germany, in compliance to the ENCePP Code of Conduct, and was evaluated regarding gender differences.
Overall, 24,056 data sets were evaluated, thereof 16,443 were from women and 7,613 from men. The efficacy of the therapy was rated very good in 45.9 women and 42.5% men. Only app. 4 % on women und men rate medication unchanged to worsened. The tolerability was good in 91.5% of the women and 90.6% of the men. Besides differences in medicines for menopausal/prostate complaints, the proportion of men taking herbal drugs for cough and cold and for joint pain was higher, while women were more likely to take herbal drugs for anxiety, sleep disturbances, and bladder dysfunction.
The data provide a gender-specific overview of the use of herbal drugs in a non-selected patient cohort. Although there were clear differences in the relevance of certain therapeutic areas, the safety and efficacy of herbal drugs were comparable between men and women.