Semen quality and Gonadometric assessment of the male Wistar rats treated with aqueous leaf extract of Chasmathera dependens (Hochst)
Keywords:
: Fertility, semen, rats, testes, EpididymisAbstract
Chasmanthera dependens (Hochst), a well-known medicinal plant widely used as pain-killer in Africa, however, its effects on fertility has not been fully studied. The effect of aqueous leaf extract of Chasmathera dependens (Hochst) (ALECD) on sperm quality and gonadometric indices of the male Wistar rats was studied. Twenty five adult male Wistar rats were randomly assigned into 5 groups A-E. Groups A-D were orally treated with 25mg/kg, 50mg/kg, 100mg/kg and 200mg/kg of the extract respectively. Group E served as the control and was given only distilled water. The treatment lasted for 21 days after which the rats were humanely sacrificed and samples (blood, semen, testes and epididymis) were collected for laboratory analysis. The treatment did not show any deleterious changes in the haematological parameters studied. There was an increase in sperm motility, livability and sperm count of rats treated with 100 mg/kg. Conversely, there was a decrease in the semen parameters of groups treated with 25 mg/kg, 50 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg of the ALECD. The treatment also caused a significant decrease in the number of morphologically abnormal sperm cells across the groups. There were no significant changes in the testicular and epididymal biometry of the treated rats across the groups.The aqueous leaf extract of Chasmathera dependens possesses fertility enhancing effect at100 mg/kg by improving the semen quality and maintaining gonadometric integrity of male rats. Therefore, the plant can be used to improve the fertility of the male breeding stock at 100 mg/kg body weight.
References
References
Adekunle, A. A., Okoli, S. O., (2002): Antifungal activity the crude extracts of Alafia barteri oliver (Apocynaceae) and Chasmanthera dependens Hochst. (Menispermaceae). Hamdard Medicus (Pakistan), 45(3), 52–56.
Ajani, O.S., Oyeyemi, M.O. and Moyinoluwa, O.J., (2015): Correlation between age, weight, scrotal circumference and the testicular and epididymal parameters of Red Sokoto bucks. Journal of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Health, 7(5), 159-163
Akerele O., 1993. Nature's Medicinal Bounty: don't throw it away. World Health Forum, 14:390-395.
Gupta, R.K., Kesari, A.N., Watal, G., Murthy, P.S., Chandra, R., Maithal, K. and Tandon, V., (2005): Hypoglycaemic and antidiabetic effect of aqueous extract of leaves of Annona squamosa (L.) in experimental animal. Current Science; 1244-1254.
Haq, I., (2004): Safety of medicinal plants. Pak J Med Res, 43(4), 203-10.
Iwu, M. M., Duncan, A. R., Okunji, C. O. (1999): New antimicrobials of plant origin. In: Janick, J., (Ed.), Perspectives on New Crops and New Uses. ASHS Press, Alexandria, VA, 457-462.
Ladokun, O., Ojezele, M., Arojojoye, O. (2015): Comparative study on the effects of aqueous extracts of Viscum album (mistletoe) from three host plants on hematological parameters in albino rats. African Health Sciences, 15(2), 606–612.
Oyeyemi, M.O. and Ajani, O.S., (2015): Haematological parameters, semen characteristics and sperm morphology of male albino rat (wistar strain) treated with Aloe vera gel. Journal of Medicinal Plants Research, 9(15), 510-514.
Odugbemi, T. (2008): A textbook of medicinal plants from Nigeria. Lagos: University of Lagos Press, 558
Ogunlesi, M., Okiei, W, Ademoye, M., (2008): Medicinal plants used in treating eye infections in Nigeria.
Ogunlesi, M., Okiei, W, Ademoye, M., Ogunlesi, E. A. O. M. (2010): Analysis of essential oil from the stem of Chasmanthera dependens. Journal of Natural Products, 47–53.
Oyeyemi, M.O. and Fayomi, A.P., (2011): Gonadosomatic index and spermatozoa morphological characteristics of male wistar rats treated with graded concentration of Aloe vera gel. Int J Anim Vet Adv, 3(2), 47-53.
Quadri AL, Yakubu MT. (2017): Fertility-enhancing activity and toxicity profile of aqueous extract of Chasmanthera dependens roots in male rats. Andrologia ;00: e12775. https://doi.org/10.1111/and.12775
Reece D.W. (1997): Physiology of domestic animals. 2nd edition Williams wilkins, 34-368
Sunmonu, T. O., Oloyede O. B., (2010): Performance and haematological indices in rats exposed to monocrotophos contamination. Human and Experimental Toxicology, 29(10), 845–850.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 African Journal of Biomedical Research

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.