Comparative Evaluation of the Potential Antifertility Activity of Aqueous and Ethanolic Leaf Extracts of Dalbergia sissoo Roxb. in Adult Male Mus musculus: Evidence from Epididymal Sperm Parameters

Abstract

The limited availability of safe, effective, and reversible male contraceptive methods has prompted increasing interest in medicinal plants as potential sources of novel contraceptive agents. Dalbergia sissoo Roxb. (Fabaceae) is a medicinal plant known for its diverse pharmacological properties; however, comparative information regarding the effects of its aqueous and ethanolic leaf extracts on male reproductive parameters remains limited. The present study was designed to compare the dose-dependent effects of aqueous and ethanolic leaf extracts of Dalbergia sissoo on epididymal sperm count, sperm motility, and sperm morphology in adult male Mus musculus. Fifty healthy adult Swiss albino male mice were randomly divided into five groups (n = 10). Group I served as the control and received distilled water, while Groups II and III received the aqueous leaf extract of Dalbergia sissoo at doses of 200 and 300 mg/kg body weight, respectively. Groups IV and V received the ethanolic leaf extract at the same dose levels. All treatments were administered orally once daily for 31 consecutive days. Epididymal sperm count, sperm motility, and sperm morphology were assessed using standard laboratory methods. The data were expressed as the mean ± SEM and analysed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), followed by Tukey's multiple-comparison test. A value of p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Oral administration of both aqueous and ethanolic leaf extracts produced significant dose-dependent reductions (p < 0.05) in epididymal sperm count and sperm motility compared with the control group. A significant increase in morphologically abnormal spermatozoa was also observed in treated animals. The ethanolic extract produced more pronounced alterations in all evaluated sperm parameters than the aqueous extract at corresponding dose levels. The present findings indicate that aqueous and ethanolic leaf extracts of Dalbergia sissoo adversely affected epididymal sperm characteristics in adult male Mus musculus, with the ethanolic extract producing comparatively greater changes. These observations suggest that D. sissoo may possess antifertility activity under the experimental conditions employed. However, further investigations involving fertility assessment, reproductive hormone analysis, histopathology, toxicity evaluation, phytochemical standardisation, and reversibility studies are required before its suitability as a plant-derived male contraceptive can be established.