The beneficial effects of Moringa oleifera leaf on reproductive performance in mice

Abstract

Moringa oleifera is a tropical plant with high nutritional and medicinal value. Recent studies have reported its remarkable effects in inflammatory, antioxidative, and anti‐diabetes modulations, but there was no significant report on its role in animal breeding. In this study, we investigated the effects of dietary Moringa oleifera leaf (MOL) on reproductive performances in mice. We studied the reproductive performance of mice for six consecutive gestations. Mice fed with 4% MOL diet showed improved litter size, litter birth weight, and litter survivals until weaning age compared to control mice fed with normal diet (p < 0.05). Mice fed with MOL diet did not change weight and organ coefficients. Serum malondialdehyde (MDA) concentrations in both male and female mice were significantly decreased by dietary MOL (p < 0.05), but glutathione peroxidase (GSH‐PX) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were unchanged. For male, dietary MOL significantly reduced sperm abnormality rate (p < 0.05) and Bcl2‐associated X protein (Bax) expression in testis (p < 0.05), but did not affect serum testosterone and the expression levels of androgen receptor (AR), phosphoglycerate kinase 2 (Pgk2), protamine2 (Prm2), and B cell leukemia/lymphoma 2 (Bcl2) in testis. For female, dietary MOL did not change serum estradiol and the expressions of estrogen receptor beta (ERβ), Bcl2, Bax, and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) in ovary. In summary, MOL increased litter size and antioxidant ability, reduced the rate of sperm abnormality and the expression of Bax. Therefore, MOL may serve as a functional feed addictive for improving animal reproductive performance.

Effect of Spirulina platensis Supplementation to Rabbits' Does Diets on Reproductive and Economical Performance تأثیر الإضافة الغذائیة لطحلب السبیرولینا فى علائق أمهات الأرانب على الکفاءة التناسلیة والإقتصادیة

“…Generally, the obtained findings in the present study regarding the serum biochemical parameters demonstrated that dietary SP had no harmful effect on adult rabbits' reproductive physiology performance. Similarly, with the current findings no negative effects on the reproductive performance of mice fed-MOL have been reported by Zeng et al (2019). These positively effects of dietary SP on serum biochemistry traits of treated rabbits in the current study due to its known as a powerful antioxidant in herbal supplements, as well as its contents phycocyanin, tocopherols, beta carotene and vitamin C are in progress of growth and health status of experimental animals (Karkos et al, 2011;Abdel-Daim et al, 2013;Seyidoglu et al, 2019).…”

“…Similarly, significant enhancement in litter weight and size at birth of NZW rabbit bucks fed red algae compared to the control group were detected by Ali and Ghazal (2013). Recently, Zeng et al (2019) also stated that dietary Moringa oleifera leaf (MOL) was able to improve litter size, litter birth weight, and litter survival of weaning mice. In general, the reproductive efficacy of rabbits depends on semen quality of bucks, the physiological status of the does, and the environmental aspects (Theau-Clement and Roustan, 1992).…”

“…An important discovery in the present study is that SP-fed groups had significantly lower sperm abnormality rates than the control group (Table 3). In a recent study, Zeng et al (2019) also reported that mice fed-MOL had lower sperm abnormality rates than untreated group. In this respect, the exact mechanism for the decrease in the frequency of abnormal sperm is not clear.…”

Moringa oleifera Supplementation Improves Antioxidant Status and Biochemical Indices by Attenuating Early Pregnancy Stress in Beetal Goats

“…The basal diet consisted of wheat, corn, rice bran, soybean meal, sugarcane molasses, and minerals formulated to fulfill the nutritional requirements of the goats (19) as shown in Table 1. The feeding levels were adjusted according to the previous studies conducted on mice with some modification in the goats (17,20). The does were offered free pasture (Chloris gayana, Carduus nutans, Leptochloa fusca, Cirsium arvense, and Chenopodium album) grazing two times during the morning and evening schedule and were provided free access to clean drinking water.…”

“…The MO has been reported to improve reproductive performance and serum antioxidant status during pregnancy in mice (17). Previous studies provided information about the impact of MO on lactation performance and milk quality in dairy cows and goats (9,18).…”