The Effect of an Aerobic Training Course and Consumption of Curcumin on Prostaglandin E2 and Prolactin Levels in Women with Premenstrual Syndrome

One of the problems among women of reproductive age is premenstrual syndrome, which often interferes with important aspects of life, including family and social relationships. Among factors influencing this syndrome changes in prolactin and levels of prostaglandin E2 have been documented. The purpose of this study therefore was to determine the effect of aerobic exercise and curcumin consumption on these factors.
In a clinical trial, 40 women with PMS were divided into 4 groups: Exercise, curcumin, training curcumin and the placebo groups; training groups did aerobic exercise for 12 weeks, (3 times/week), and other groups, consumed 2 capsules containing 100 mg of curcumin or placebo two times day, from 7 days before menstruation until day 3 of its their period.
Results showed that prostaglandin E2 levels were significantly decreased only in the combination group (P=0.005) and while in the other groups there was no significant difference (p>0.01); P values in the training, curcumin, and placebo groups were 0.04, 0.76, 0.33 respectively). Also, none of the interventions caused any significant changes in serum levels of prolactin (p>0.01), (P values in the training, curcumin, combination and placebo groups were 0.1, 0.76, 0.99 and 0.25 respectively).
Results of this study showed that taking curcumin and performing aerobic exercise simultaneously reduced the amount of prostaglandin E2, indicating that these two protocols performed simultaneously can be effective in the treatment of premenstrual syndrome.