Ginkgo biloba extract (GBE) facilitates blood flow, influences nitric oxide systems, and has a relaxant effect on smooth muscle
tissue. These processes are important to the sexual response in women and, hence, it is feasible that GBE may have a therapeutic
effect. The present study was the first to provide an empirical examination of the effects of both short- and long-term GBE
administration on subjective and physiological (vaginal photoplethysmography) measures of sexual function in women with Sexual
Arousal Disorder. A single dose of 300 mg GBE had a small but significant facilitatory effect on physiological, but not subjective,
sexual arousal compared to placebo in 99 sexually dysfunctional women. The long-term effects of GBE on sexual function were
assessed in 68 sexually dysfunctional women who were randomly assigned to 8 weeks treatment of either (1) GBE (300 mg/daily),
(2) placebo, (3) sex therapy which focused on training women to attend to genital sensations, or (4) sex therapy plus GBE.
When combined with sex therapy, but not alone, long-term GBE treatment significantly increased sexual desire and contentment
beyond placebo. Sex therapy alone significantly enhanced orgasm function compared with placebo. Long-term GBE administration
did not significantly enhance arousal responses beyond placebo. It was concluded that (1) neither short- or long-term administration
of GBE alone substantially impacts sexual function in women, (2) a substantial placebo effect on sexual function exists in
women with sexual concerns, and (3) teaching women to focus on genital sensations during sex enhances certain aspects of women’s
sexual functioning.
Keywords Ginkgo biloba - Female sexual dysfunction - Sex therapy - Vaginal photoplethysmography