Posted by TENMAN on November 21, 2006, at 21:34:13
In reply to Re: Vitex - dopamine agonist, opiod, 5ht transport, posted by Declan on November 21, 2006, at 20:05:21
> If vitex has a clear prolactin lowering effect and is dopaminergic, how come the name comes from its use in monasteries to reduce libido among male monks?
> (Maybe that's not right?)
>
> And what about the traditional use of it as a female herb?
> Anyone know?You're right, Vitex is called Chaste-Berry and was originally given to monks to lower libido-or so the story goes. I have no idea how common or effective this was.
Vitex shows strong affinity for the D2 receptor as an agonist and as I said previously has been shown to lower prolactin, an effect consistent with agonist effects at that receptor subtype.
Vitex is used traditionally for females to suppress Prolactin and increase LH thereby lowering FSH which results in a favorable shift of the progesterone to estrogen ratio in favor of the former. This prolongs menstruation and improves fertility. The herb itself is not hormonal but rather acts on the hypothalamus to induce hormonal changes. This follows that the hormonal effects in men would be the same (lowering of prolactin, raising testosterone) though I've never used it for myself and cannot comment on it's efficacy.To put it very crudely vitex=nature's bromocriptine. A crude
poster:TENMAN
thread:705739
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20061118/msgs/706012.html