HERBAL MEDICINES FOR TREATMENT OF ANTIFUNGAL AND BACTERIAL VAGINITIS IN REPRODUCTIVE AGED WOMEN: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS

Abstract. Background and aim: herbal treatment is one of the most valuable medical treasures in Iran. Iran is one of the three countries with a long history in this field. In this review and meta-analysis we have tried to examine the use of herbal medicines in fungal and bacterial infections and to achieve a comprehensive outcome. Method: In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched databases, including Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials, SID, Magiran, Scopus, PubMed, Google Scholar, for articlespublished from 2000 to 2019 on medicinal plants with antifungal and bacterial vaginitis effects. First, all the relevant studies on the effects of medicinal plants in vitro or in clinical trials in Iran, whose title or abstract included any of the keywords of “vaginal candidiasis”, “herbal medicine”, and “bacterial vaginitis” were retrieved. Result: In this study, we reviewed 7 studies. 687 women were enrolled in the study, 389 in the intervention group and 298 in the control group. In studies used Ginger-clotrimazole vaginalcream, Zataria multiflora vaginal cream, Honey vaginal cream, Garlic vaginal cream and Propolis Vaginal Cream and for control groups used clotrimazole vaginal cream, metronidazole vaginal gel, colostomyazole vagina pill and metronidazole oral pill. Conclusion: After integrating the findings from clinical trials and Meta-analysis, we concluded that the use of medicinal plants along with routine drugs can be effective.Key words: Herbal medicines, antifungal, bacterial vaginitis