Nocturia-Improving Effects of Water Extracts of Cucurbita Pepo seeds

To study the effects of water extracts of Cucurbita pepo seeds on nocturia and sleep, we conducted a clinical study with 25 elderly volunteers with nocturia (> one void/night) using tea prepared from C. pepo seeds (pepokabo-cha). This study comprised the following periods : a screening period (1 week drinking water) and treatment periods (3 weeks drinking pepokabo-cha). As a result, the mean number of nocturnal voids decreased from 2.23 +/- 0.77 during the screening period to 1.30 +/- 0.51 by the third week of the treatment period, and the number of nocturnal voids during the first week of treatment decreased significantly relative to that of the screening period (P<0.01). The urination condition (urinary flow, residual sensation, post micturition dribble) during the treatment period was better than that of the screening period. Moreover, the level of sleep satisfaction was evaluated to be better than that during the screening period. Therefore, it is considered that pepokabo-cha improves nocturia and may improve quality of sleep. Until now, many papers have reported that the oil from C. Pepo seeds, or its ethanol-extracted fraction, has dysuria-improving effects. Therefore, our discovery of the strong nocturia-improving effects of water extracts of C. pepo seeds even after the removal of the oil is novel. (Received Mar. 30, 2011; Accepted Jun. 13, 2011)