Background

• Historically, all parts of the plant have been used medicinally, but the bark and roots are most highly utilized. Indigenous tribes in Brazil use the tea for treating neuromuscular problems, rheumatism, influenza, cardiac and gastrointestinal asthenia and to prevent baldness. In Europe, muira puama has a long history in herbal medicine as an anti-rheumatic, aphrodisiac, a tonic for the nervous system, and for the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders.
• Muira puama is included in combination products as a remedy for sexual impotence. Recent studies show promising evidence that it may increase sexual vitality and treat erectile dysfunction in males. Muira puama has also been used by bodybuilders and weight lifters to improve physical performance. This is due to proposed testosterone-like effects of muira puama.
• If buying preparations of muira puama, do so with caution, as Liriosma ovata and Acanthea virilis are commonly incorrectly sold as muira puama.

References

• Antunes E, Gordo WM, de Oliveira JF, et al. The relaxation of isolated rabbit corpus cavernosum by the herbal medicine Catuama and its constituents. Phytother Res 2001;15(5):416-421.
  View Abstract
• Auterhoff H, Momberger B. [Lipophilic constituent of Muira puama]. Arch Pharm Ber Dtsch Pharm Ges 1971;304(3):223-228.
  View Abstract
• Auterhoff H, Pankow E. [Contents of Muira puama]. Arch Pharm Ber Dtsch Pharm Ges 1968;301(7):481-489.
  View Abstract
• Bucci LR. Selected herbals and human exercise performance. Am J Clin Nutr 2000;72(2 Suppl):624S-636S.
  View Abstract
• da Silva AL, Piato AL, Bardini S, et al. Memory retrieval improvement by Ptychopetalum olacoides in young and aging mice. J Ethnopharmacol 2004;95(2-3):199-203.
  View Abstract
• Pankow E, Auterhoff H. [Contents of Muira puama. 2]. Arch Pharm Ber Dtsch Pharm Ges 1969;302(3):209-212.
  View Abstract
• Siqueira IR, Lara DR, Silva D, et al. Psychopharmacological properties of Ptychopetalum olacoides bentham (Olacaceae). Pharmaceutical Biology 1998;36(5):327-334.
• Siqueira IR, Cimarosti H, Fochesatto C, et al. Neuroprotective effects of Ptychopetalum olacoides Bentham (Olacaceae) on oxygen and glucose deprivation induced damage in rat hippocampal slices. Life Sci 8-27-2004;75(15):1897-1906.
  View Abstract
• Siqueira IR, Fochesatto C, da Silva AL, et al. Ptychopetalum olacoides, a traditional Amazonian "nerve tonic", possesses anticholinesterase activity. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 2003;75(3):645-650.
  View Abstract
• Vaz ZR, Mata LV, Calixto JB. Analgesic effect of the herbal medicine catuama in thermal and chemical models of nociception in mice. Phytotherapy Research 1997;11:101-106.
• Waynberg J, Brewer S. Effects of Herbal vX on libido and sexual activity in premenopausal and postmenopausal women. Adv Ther 2000;17(5):255-262.
  View Abstract