The herbal medicine Bryophyllum pinnatum has been used as a tocolytic agent in anthroposophic medicine and, recently, in conventional settings alone or as an add-on medication with tocolytic agents such as atosiban. We investigated the effects of B. pinnatum leaf press juice and atosiban, alone and in combination, on the contractility of myometrial tissue obtained from women undergoing Cesarean section.
Myometrial biopsies were collected during elective Caesarean section. Myometrial strips were placed under tension into a myograph chamber, and spontaneous contractions were recorded. After a 30 min period of regular contractions, B. pinnatum juice (0.08% or 0.25%), atosiban (0.53 or 0.27 µg/mL), or the combination of both (Comb1= 0.08% + 0.53 µg/mL; Comb2= 0.25% + 0.27 µg/mL) were added to the chamber. Area under the curve (AUC) of contractions was determined for each contraction, and results were expressed as percentage of initial.
Results show that all test substances inhibited myometrium contractility, i.e. they led to significantly lower AUCs compared to control (in all cases p<0.05). When Comb1 was tested, contractions intensity lowered to 55.6 ± 13.0% (n = 158). This was not significantly different from atosiban effect alone (46.3 ± 20.8%; n = 17). When Comb2 concentrations were tested, B. pinnatum juice decreased contractions down to 73.0 ± 8.8%, atosiban to 86.0 ± 4.9%, and the combination to 55.2 ± 12.6%. Thus, the inhibitory effect of Comb2 was significantly higher than atosiban alone at the correspondent concentration (p<0.05).
In conclusion, B. pinnatum and atosiban inhibit spontaneous myometrial contractions in vitro. The inhibitory effect of the combination is dependent on the concentrations used, and at a high B. pinnatum to atosiban ratio (Comb2), the effect is significantly higher than atosiban alone.