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The impact of epigallocatechin gallate, vitamin D, and D-chiro-inositol on early surgical outcomes of laparoscopic myomectomy: a pilot study

  • General Gynecology
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose

A prospective investigation to assess the impact of 3 months of treatment with epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), vitamin D and D-chiro-inositol (DCI) in the treatment of uterine fibroids (UF) with laparoscopic myomectomy as evidenced by surgical outcomes and effect on liver function.

Methods

Non-pregnant or lactating women aged between 30 and 40 years were scheduled for laparoscopic myomectomy to treat symptoms or looking to conceive. After enrollment, patients were assigned to either (1) intervention group, assuming a total of 300 mg EGCG, 50 μg vitamin D, and 50 mg DCI divided in 2 pills per day for 3 months, or (2) control group, including untreated women scheduled to undergo laparoscopic myomectomy after 3 months.

Results

91 patients completed the study. The comparison of the surgical outcomes between the intervention (n = 44) and the control (n = 47) groups revealed that the treatment significantly reduces the duration of surgery (41.93 ± 7.56 min vs 56.32 ± 10.63 min, p < 0.001). Moreover, the treatment also reduced blood loss during surgery (149.09 ± 25.40 mL vs 168.41 ± 21.34 mL, p < 0.001), resulting in treated patients having higher Hb levels at discharge 11.27 ± 0.82 mL vs 10.56 ± 0.82 mL, p < 0.01). The surgery induced an increase in AST and in total bilirubin regardless of the assigned group, and the treatment induced no change in liver function.

Conclusions

Our data suggest that EGCG plus vitamin D, and DCI could represent a safe option for women with UF scheduled for laparoscopic myomectomy, improving surgical outcomes without affecting liver functionality.

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Data availability

Data are available by the corresponding author on a reasonable request.

Abbreviations

ALT:

Alanine transaminase

AST:

Aspartate transaminase

BMI:

Body mass index

DCI:

D-Chiro-inositol

EFSA:

European Food Safety Agency

EGCG:

Epigallocatechin gallate

GnRH:

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone

LFTs:

Liver function tests

PCNA:

Proliferating cell nuclear antigen

UF:

Uterine fibroid

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Acknowledgements

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Funding

The authors declare that no funds, grants, or other support was received during the preparation of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, CERICSAL (CEntro di RIcerca Clinico SALentino), “Veris delli Ponti Hospital”, Via Giuseppina Delli Ponti, 73020, Scorrano, Lecce, Italy

    Andrea Tinelli, Gaetano Panese & Martina Licchelli

  2. Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Pia Fondazione “Card. G. Panico”, Tricase, Lecce, Italy

    Andrea Morciano

  3. Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Medicine, Saarland University, 66421, Homburg, Saarland, Germany

    Giovanni Pecorella

  4. R&D Department, Lo.Li. Pharma, Rome, Italy

    Riccardo Gambioli

Authors
  1. Andrea Tinelli
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  2. Gaetano Panese
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  3. Martina Licchelli
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  4. Andrea Morciano
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  6. Riccardo Gambioli
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Contributions

Concept or design: AT, RG. Acquisition of data: AT, GPa, ML. Analysis or interpretation of data: GPa, GPe, AM. Drafting of the article: AT, AM, GPe. Critical revision for important intellectual content: AT, RG.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andrea Tinelli.

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Conflict of interest

The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose, a part Gambioli R. He is an employee at Lo.Li. Pharma. All the authors had full access to the data, contributed to the study, approved the final version for publication, and take responsibility for its accuracy and integrity.

Ethics approval

The study was approved by the Independent Committee of Medical Ethics (approval number 102621/21). The trials were registered with clinicaltrials.gov (NCT05448365).

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Tinelli, A., Panese, G., Licchelli, M. et al. The impact of epigallocatechin gallate, vitamin D, and D-chiro-inositol on early surgical outcomes of laparoscopic myomectomy: a pilot study. Arch Gynecol Obstet 309, 1021–1026 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-023-07324-x

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