Estrogenic activity of Humulus lupulus L

Humulus lupulus or hop is a species of flowering plant in the Cannabaceae family, native to Europe, western Asia and North America. It is found in most countries of the North Temperate Zone. The aim of this study was to overview pharmacological properties of Humulus lupulus L. Methods: This review article was carried out by searching studies in PubMed, Medline, Web of Science, and IranMedex databases. The initial search strategy identified about 123 references. In this study, 66 studies was accepted for further screening and met all our inclusion criteria [in English, full text, therapeutic effects of Humulus lupulus L. and dated mainly from the year 1999 to 2016.The search terms were “Humulus lupulus L”, “therapeutic properties”, “pharmacological effects”. Result: The effects of Humulus lupulus L (Hop) in postmenopausal women was examined in this study. Humulus lupulus extract increased sexual motivation in hormone-primed female. Hops alleviate menopause-associated symptoms. Conclusion: based on the result of the study, Humulus lupulus is a potent estrogen with the potential to be used for the relief of menopausal symptoms in women. The endocrine properties of hops and hop products are due to the very high estrogenic activity of 8-prenylnaringenin and concern must be expressed about the unrestricted use of hops in herbal preparations for women.