Evaluation of Male Fertility-Enhancing Activities of Water Seed Extract of Hunteria umbellata in Wistar Rats

Abstract

Background. In this study, the male fertility-enhancing activity of 100, 200, and 400 mg/kg/day of Hunteria umbellata water seed extract (HU) in Wistar rats was studied for 60 days. In doing this, effect of repeated doses of HU was studied on the weight gain pattern, gonadosomatic index (GSI), serum follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), testosterone (TS), prolactin (PRL), and estradiol (ES)} as well as testicular antioxidant status of the treated rats as a way of elucidating the mechanism(s) of action of HU. Method. Thirty-six (36) male Wistar rats were randomly divided into six groups (I-VI) of six rats per group. Group I rats were gavaged with 10 ml/kg/day of distilled water and served as an untreated control; Group II rats were gavaged with 0.3 mg/kg/day of clomiphene in distilled water; Groups III-V rats received 100 mg/kg/day, 200 mg/kg/day, and 400 mg/kg/day of HU, respectively, and Group VI rats received 20 mg/kg/day of Vitamin C all in distilled water. All treatments were for 60 days after which the treated rats were humanely sacrificed. Sera of blood samples were processed for the above stated hormonal profile. Similarly, testicular tissues obtained were processed for semen analysis and complete antioxidant profile of the HU-treated testicles by assaying for superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione (GSH), glutathione reductase (GSR), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), and Thiobarbituric Reactive Species (TBARS). Results. Prolonged treatments with 100 mg/kg/day, 200 mg/kg/day, and 400 mg/kg/day of HU for 60 days induced dose dependent reductions in weight gain pattern with the most significant (p<0.001) effect recorded with the highest dose of HU. Conversely, significant (p<0.001) increase was recorded for GSI at the same HU dose. Clomiphene and HU also induced significant (p<0.01, p<0.001) dose dependent increases in the total sperm count, %live sperm, but reverse effects on %dead sperm and %abnormal sperm. On the hormonal profile, oral treatment with 100 mg/kg/day, 200 mg/kg/day, and 400 mg/kg/day of the extract induced profound (p<0.05, p<0.01, and p<0.001) dose related increases in the sera TS, LH, and FSH while it caused reverse effect on serum PRL but caused no significant alterations in the serum ES levels. Similarly, oral treatment with vitamin C and 100-400 mg/kg/day of HU induced profound (p<0.05, p<0.01, and p<0.001) increases in the antioxidant enzyme activities. Conclusion. Overall, prolonged oral treatment with 100-400 mg/kg body weight of HU for 60 days significantly improved sperm function which was mediated via enhanced spermatogenesis, steroidogenesis, and antioxidant mechanisms.

Ethno-medicinal, phytochemistry, and pharmacological importance of Hunteria umbellate (K. Schum.) Hallier f. (Apocynaceae): a useful medicinal plant of sub-Saharan Africa

“…As observed by Adeneye and crooks [42] [41], the methanol seed extract at 250 mg/ kg elicited stronger total cholesterol, plasma triacylglyceride, LDL-C reducing and a formidable HDL-C increasing activity than glibenclamide in alloxan exposed treated animals. The activity of the extract at all doses was significantly better than control (untreated animals).…”

“…In the same period, the control group of animals on normal rat chow, without the extract or simvastatin exhibited a weight increase from 127.30 g -161.80 g equating to 27.12% [40]. As established by Adeneye et al [42], a 60day study with 6 experimental groups revealed that the set of animals treated with 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg aqueous seed extract exhibited a dose-dependent weight reduction of 280 g, 279.20 g, and 243.70 g respectively vis-à-vis Vitamin C (20 mg/kg), distilled water (10 ml/ kg), clomiphene (0.3 mg/kg) treated groups with average body weights of 307.80 g, 290 g, and 315.30 g respectively. Ajiboye et al [39] reported that abdominal circumference which was hitherto increased in rats on high fructose diet for 9 weeks was dose-dependently reduced after 3 weeks of administration of aqueous seed extract (100, 200, and 400 mg/kg).…”

“…The efficacy of H. umbellate aqueous seed extract to reduce and relieve anxiety in rats using the open field and dark-light box tests was carried out by Adeneye et al [42]. It was recorded that the animal given 100 mg/kg extract spent more time in the compartment and less time in the dark compartment which was significant (p < 0.05) than the control animals.…”

The beneficial effect of oyster peptides and oyster powder on cyclophosphamide‐induced reproductive impairment in male rats: A comparative study

“…LH acts on testicular Leydig cells and combines with the LH receptor (LH‐R) to promote T synthesis (Ohta et al., 2017 year). FSH usually affects testicular Sertoli cells and promotes spermatogenesis (Wahab et al., 2019), which is significantly affected by the interaction of FSH, LH, and T. (Adeneye, Olagunju, & Murtala, 2019). In this study, the T, FT, FSH, and LH levels in the serum of rats treated with CTX were significantly decreased, which was consistent with the results of previous studies involving CTX reproductive toxicity.…”

Pharmacological Activities of Carica papaya Linn

“…Adeneye and his coworker worked on hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic effect of papaya seed. 0.1 mg/kg per day of glibenclamide and aqueous extract of seed with 100-400 mg/kg per day are effective in hypo-glycemia and hypo-lipidemia [32].…”