The Anxiolytic Effects of Melissa officinalis L. on Patients Awaiting Surgery: A Randomized Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial

Preoperative anxiety is prevalent with up to 80% of patients experiencing this unpleasant feeling. Melissa officinalis L. is a famous herb with proposed medicinal activity including anxiolytic effects. Therefore, we aimed to consider the effect of M. officinalis in capsule formulation on preoperati...

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Main Authors: Seyed Mojtaba Marashi, Samaneh Soleymani, Ali Akbar Safari, Mohammad Salehi Marzijarani, Omid Azimaraghi, Mostafa Javanmard, Mehrdad Karimi, Arman Zargaran
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Tehran University of Medical Sciences 2025-03-01
Series:Traditional and Integrative Medicine
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Online Access:https://jtim.tums.ac.ir/index.php/jtim/article/view/1343
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author Seyed Mojtaba Marashi
Samaneh Soleymani
Ali Akbar Safari
Mohammad Salehi Marzijarani
Omid Azimaraghi
Mostafa Javanmard
Mehrdad Karimi
Arman Zargaran
author_facet Seyed Mojtaba Marashi
Samaneh Soleymani
Ali Akbar Safari
Mohammad Salehi Marzijarani
Omid Azimaraghi
Mostafa Javanmard
Mehrdad Karimi
Arman Zargaran
author_sort Seyed Mojtaba Marashi
collection DOAJ
description Preoperative anxiety is prevalent with up to 80% of patients experiencing this unpleasant feeling. Melissa officinalis L. is a famous herb with proposed medicinal activity including anxiolytic effects. Therefore, we aimed to consider the effect of M. officinalis in capsule formulation on preoperative anxiety in this clinical study. The plant material was standardized based on its essential oil content using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry apparatus. Then, 45 patients undergoing general surgery with American society of anesthesiology (ASA) physical status I or II were selected. By randomization, 23 and 22 patients were enrolled in treatment and placebo groups, respectively; to receive 500 mg dried powder of M. officinalis or placebo capsules, every 6 hours for 24 hours in this double-blind clinical study. They also completed the State Trait Anxiety Inventory for the second time and then proceeded to surgery. After the intervention, results showed a significant difference between the drug and placebo groups. The anxiety scores were 4.73 ± 1.17 and 5.81± 1.22 in the drug and placebo groups, respectively (p = 0.01). No adverse event was recorded. The results of this investigation show that M. officinalis capsule decreases preoperative anxiety in the patients who are undergoing general surgery and could be considered as a helpful supplement for these patients.
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spelling doaj-art-0a7f1d53f47643279f9f5c5b927ff0152025-08-20T03:03:37ZengTehran University of Medical SciencesTraditional and Integrative Medicine2476-51042476-51122025-03-0110110.18502/tim.v10i1.18218The Anxiolytic Effects of Melissa officinalis L. on Patients Awaiting Surgery: A Randomized Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Clinical TrialSeyed Mojtaba Marashi0Samaneh Soleymani1Ali Akbar Safari2Mohammad Salehi Marzijarani3Omid Azimaraghi4Mostafa Javanmard5Mehrdad Karimi6Arman Zargaran7Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IranDepartment of Traditional Pharmacy, School of Persian Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IranDepartment of Traditional Pharmacy, School of Persian Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran AND Evidence-based Phytotherapy and Complementary Medicine Research Center, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, IranDepartment of Biostatistics, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, IranDepartment of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IranDepartment of Anesthesiology, Imam Khomeini Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IranDepartment of Traditional Medicine, School of Persian Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IranDepartment of Traditional Pharmacy, School of Persian Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Preoperative anxiety is prevalent with up to 80% of patients experiencing this unpleasant feeling. Melissa officinalis L. is a famous herb with proposed medicinal activity including anxiolytic effects. Therefore, we aimed to consider the effect of M. officinalis in capsule formulation on preoperative anxiety in this clinical study. The plant material was standardized based on its essential oil content using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry apparatus. Then, 45 patients undergoing general surgery with American society of anesthesiology (ASA) physical status I or II were selected. By randomization, 23 and 22 patients were enrolled in treatment and placebo groups, respectively; to receive 500 mg dried powder of M. officinalis or placebo capsules, every 6 hours for 24 hours in this double-blind clinical study. They also completed the State Trait Anxiety Inventory for the second time and then proceeded to surgery. After the intervention, results showed a significant difference between the drug and placebo groups. The anxiety scores were 4.73 ± 1.17 and 5.81± 1.22 in the drug and placebo groups, respectively (p = 0.01). No adverse event was recorded. The results of this investigation show that M. officinalis capsule decreases preoperative anxiety in the patients who are undergoing general surgery and could be considered as a helpful supplement for these patients. https://jtim.tums.ac.ir/index.php/jtim/article/view/1343Persian medicineAnxietyHerbal medicineAnesthesia
spellingShingle Seyed Mojtaba Marashi
Samaneh Soleymani
Ali Akbar Safari
Mohammad Salehi Marzijarani
Omid Azimaraghi
Mostafa Javanmard
Mehrdad Karimi
Arman Zargaran
The Anxiolytic Effects of Melissa officinalis L. on Patients Awaiting Surgery: A Randomized Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial
Traditional and Integrative Medicine
Persian medicine
Anxiety
Herbal medicine
Anesthesia
title The Anxiolytic Effects of Melissa officinalis L. on Patients Awaiting Surgery: A Randomized Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial
title_full The Anxiolytic Effects of Melissa officinalis L. on Patients Awaiting Surgery: A Randomized Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial
title_fullStr The Anxiolytic Effects of Melissa officinalis L. on Patients Awaiting Surgery: A Randomized Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial
title_full_unstemmed The Anxiolytic Effects of Melissa officinalis L. on Patients Awaiting Surgery: A Randomized Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial
title_short The Anxiolytic Effects of Melissa officinalis L. on Patients Awaiting Surgery: A Randomized Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial
title_sort anxiolytic effects of melissa officinalis l on patients awaiting surgery a randomized double blind placebo controlled clinical trial
topic Persian medicine
Anxiety
Herbal medicine
Anesthesia
url https://jtim.tums.ac.ir/index.php/jtim/article/view/1343
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