Effect of aqueous fruit extract of <i>Xylopia aethiopica</i> on reproductive hormones in male guinea pigs

Abstract

The effect of aqueous fruit extract of xylopia aethiopica on reproductive hormones in male guinea pigs was investigated using 60 mature male guinea pigs which were randomly divided into 5 groups of 12 animals each. Daily oral doses of 2.5mg/kg, 5mg/kg, 10mg/kg and 20mg/kg of extract were administered to each of the animals in the four treatment groups respectively, while the control group received equal volume of distilled water only. Blood from 6 animals in each group were analysed for leuteinising hormone (LH), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and
Testosterone on the 8th and 15th days of the experiment by classical ELISA method, using Human kits. The result shows a dose dependent significant (p<0.05) decrease in the plasma levels of LH, FSH and Testosterone for both the 7 days and 14 days treatment groups respectively. Also, a time dependent significant (p<0.05) decrease was
observed for both LH and FSH at all treatment doses. This suggests that the use of xylopia aethiopica fruits by human males may have both dose and time dependent adverse effects on the reproductive hormones, and therefore on their reproductive capacity.