Effect of Ethanol Leaf Extract of Gongronema latifolium (Bush Buck) on the Reproductive System of Male Albino Rats

Abstract

Medicinal plants are plants used for medicinal purposes and are commonly used in treating and preventing specific ailments and diseases that are generally considered to be harmful to humans. Gongronema latifolium is a well-known plant that is beneficial in preventing and treating certain diseases and ailment due to their phytochemical constituents. This study evaluates the effect of ethanol leaf extract of Gongronema latifolium on the reproductive system of male Albino rats using standard methods. Twenty-five male rats equally divided into five groups and five female rats were used. Group I and 2…. .II served as the Normal and Positive controls and were orally administered with distilled water and subcutaneously standard drug; testosterone respectively. The other three groups were orally treated with Gongronema latifolium extract at low, middle and high dosage (200,300 and 400ml/kg body weight) respectively. After 7 days of treatment, the female rats were introduced into the male cages in the ratio 1:1 (male: female) to ascertain for the different aphrodisiac parameters. Treatment continued for another 7 days after which the male animals were sacrificed and blood samples collected for hormonal assay. Results showed that all the aphrodisiac frequencies had a significant increase (p≤0.001) in mounting frequency, intromission frequency and penile erectile frequency when compared with the controls while the mounting latency, intromission latency, ejaculatory latency and penile erectile latency were significantly reduced (p≤0.001) in comparison with the controls in this study. Most of the reproductive hormones were significantly increased (p≤0.001) in the extract treatment group when compared to the controls. Thus, this study suggests that the crude leaf extract of Gongronema latifolium may possess aphrodisiac properties and consequently on the reproductive system.