OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine the efficacy of evening primrose oil versus dinoprostone gel as a cervical priming agent prior to operative hysteroscopy.

METHODOLOGY: Nine patients were randomized to receive either oral Evening Primrose Oil 1000mg/capsule one capsule three times a day for 7 days (n=4) versus 500 mcg intracervical dinoprostone gel 12 hours (n=5) prior to the procedure. The primary outcome measures were baseline cervical width prior to operative hysteroscopy. The secondary outcomes were surgeons' subjective assessments of insertion difficulty, number of patients requiring cervical dilatation, duration of cervical dilatation, pre-operative pain, adverse effects and complications.

RESULTS: Both agents, Evening primrose oil and dinoprostone gel, were effective for cervical dilatation with a mean cervical diameter of 8.0 ± 1.4mm and 8.2 ± 1.3mm, respectively (P=0.832). There were no significant difference in the mean cervical diameter, ease of insertion of operative hysteroscope, time required for and number of patients requiring cervical dilatation. More patients in the dinoprostone complained of hypogastric pain prior to the procedure. No perioperative complications were observed in both groups.

CONCLUSION: Both oral Evening primrose oil and intracervical dinoprostone gel were equally effective in inducing proper cervical priming prior to operative hysteroscopy. Nevertheless, Evening primrose oil may be superior due to its oral route, reduced cost, patient convenience and acceptability.

Human ; Female ; Primula ; Dinoprostone ; Cervix Uteri ; Hysteroscopy

This study was carried out to determine the effect of dietary gamma-linolenic acid on decreasing the plasma lipid levels and the thrombotic activity in rats. Sprague-Dawley male rats (B.W 120 g) were fed a experimental diet containing 5% lard (46.05% saturated fatty acids) , corn oil (51.36% linoleic acid) , evening primrose oil (EPO,72.80% linoleic acid and 9.16% gamma-linolenic acid) or borage oil (BO,40.29% linoleic acid and 24.25% gamma-liolenic acid) for 30 days. Although there were no significant differences in the food intake among the groups, the body weight gain of the BO group was significantly lower than that of the other groups. The bleeding time of the BO group was significantly longer than that of the other groups. There were significantly differences in the whole blood clotting time among the groups except for the EPO and corn oil groups, where the whole blood clotting time of the BO group was the highest among the groups, and that of the lard group was the lowest. The plasma triacyglyceride (TAG) , total cholesterol (TC) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) concentrations were the lowest in the BO group, but highest in the lard group, and there were significant differences among the groups. The plasma HDL-C concentrations were in the following order: BO, EPO, corn oil and lard groups and there were significant differences among the groups. The excretions of fecal neutial steroids and acidic steroids of the BO group were the highest among the groups, and there were significant differences compared to the other groups. The results suggest that dietary EPO and BO containing gamma-linolenic acid has an antithrombotic activity, and inhibits the increasing of plasma TAG, TC and LDL-C concentrations compared to lard, which contains saturated fatty acids, or corn oil, which contains linoleic acid.
Animals ; Bleeding Time ; Blood Coagulation ; Body Weight ; Borago ; Cholesterol ; Cholesterol, LDL ; Corn Oil ; Diet ; Dietary Fats, Unsaturated* ; Eating ; Fatty Acids ; gamma-Linolenic Acid* ; Humans ; Linoleic Acid ; Male ; Oenothera biennis ; Plasma* ; Primula ; Rats* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Steroids

Primula obconica which contains the potcnt sensitizer, primin, is a common cause of allergic contact dermatitis among gardeners and florists, yet a case of primula dermatitis has not been reported in current Korean dermatologic literature to our knowledge. We report a case of a 60-year-old female patient presented with features of allergic contact dermatitis due to P. obconica. A patch test revealed positive reactions to crushed extracts of flowers of P. obconica.
Dermatitis ; Dermatitis, Allergic Contact* ; Female ; Flowers ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Patch Tests ; Primula*

Evening primrose oil(EPO), which contains 72% cis-linoleic acid and 9% cisgamma linolenic acid, has been clinically used for treatment of number of diseases in human and animals. And it is also known to lower cholesterol(CHO) level of hypercholesterolaemic individuals. But the role of EPO as CHO-suppressant is controversial, and the relationship of EPO to CHO level in immune regulating activities is unclear at present. To evaluate the effect of evening primrose on the normal plasma CHO-levels, rabbits were fed with evening primrose seed(EPS) or injected with evening primrose seed-extract(EPE), and measured the plasma CHO-levels by duration of treatment. Both of EPS and EPE did not influence the plasma CHO-levels until 4 day treatment and thereafter the levels were significantly reduced. For the investigation of the EPE-effect on immune response to sheep erythrocytes(SRBC), mice were injected with EPE for 4 days before SRBC-sensitization or with CHO just before SRBC, Sensitization or with CHO in regulating effect of immune response was evaluated by the measuring the footpad swelling reaction and antibody response to SRBC. EPE itself did not influence Arthus reaction but it remarkable reduced delayed type hypersensitivity(DTH) and antibody production in comparison with control. CHO slightly increased Arthus reaction and DTH, but it somewhat decreased antibody responses. However, CHO significantly recovered the EPE-induced decrement of DTH and humoral immunity. There results led to that conclusion the evening primrose triggers the decrease of plasma CHO-levels and immune responses, and suggested that the mechanisms responsible for the nonspecific immune inhibitory effect of evening primrose might be partially due to the decrement of the CHO-levels.
alpha-Linolenic Acid ; Animals ; Antibody Formation ; Arthus Reaction ; Cholesterol* ; Erythrocytes* ; Humans ; Immunity, Humoral ; Mice ; Oenothera biennis ; Plasma* ; Primula* ; Rabbits ; Sheep*