Royal jelly for genitourinary syndrome of menopause: A randomized controlled trial

Abstract

ObjectiveGenitourinary syndrome of menopause is a progressive condition characterized by a decrease in estrogen, which causes bothersome genital symptoms. The purpose of the study was to determine the effect of royal jelly on the genitourinary syndrome of menopause. Materials and methodsA randomized controlled trial was carried out from November 2018 to June 2019 in Bandar Abbas, Iran. The trial was registered in the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (1RCT20181107041585N1) with the main objective of determining if royal jelly could reduce the genitourinary syndrome of menopausal women. Eligible women were randomly assigned to receive either daily 1g of oral royal jelly or placebo for 8 weeks. The urogenital subscale of the Menopausal Rating Scale was used to determine genitourinary syndrome. Independent samples t-test was used for inter-group comparisons and paired samples t-test for pre-and post-treatment comparisons. ResultsThere were no differences in the severity of sexual problems, bladder complications, or vaginal dryness between groups before intervention. Although the intervention group's bladder complications improved slightly after eight weeks of royal jelly treatment compared to the control group (p ​= ​0.04), there were no significant changes in vaginal dryness, sexual problems, or total urogenital score. The within-group changes (before and after treatment) also showed no differences in urogenital symptoms. ConclusionsA daily dose of 1g royal jelly taken orally for 8 weeks did not alleviate menopausal genitourinary syndrome. No serious side effects were observed. To make more reliable decisions about the use and safety of royal jelly in the future, different doses of royal jelly and longer trials are required.