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Improved ovulation rate and implantation in rats treated with royal jelly


A.E. Ojimelukwe
G.O. Agu

Abstract

The ovaries and uteris of 12 mature female rats (Rattus norvegicus) were examined to determine the effect of commercial royal jelly on ovulation, ovarian weight and implantation rates. Rats were split in two groups of 6 each. Group one served as the treatment and group two the control. A daily dose of 25mg of royal jelly was administered orally for 26 days under standard laboratory conditions. Approximately ten days post copulation, rats were euthanized with chloroform and ovulation was determined by the number of corpora lutea present in the ovaries. Ovarian weight was recorded and implantation was determined based on the number of implants present in the uterus. The mean number of corpora lutea found in experimental and control groups were 8.0±1.8 and 5.3±1.5 respectively. Mean ovarian weight in treated and control groups were 0.160g±0.035 and 0.078g±0.02 respectively. Percentage implantation rates of treated and control groups were 93.33% and 90.62% respectively The study revealed that royal jelly can significantly improve the number of ova released per estrus cycle (p<0.05) and the ovarian weight (p<0.05) of mature female rats. Royal jelly may be effective in improving ovulation and implantation in rats.

Keywords: Royal jelly, Ovulation, Implantation, Rattus norvegicus


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eISSN: 1118-1931
print ISSN: 1118-1931