Research Article
Evaluation of Male Fertility-Enhancing Activities of Water Seed
Extract of Hunteria umbellata in Wistar Rats
Adejuwon Adewale Adeneye ,
1
Joseph Abayomi Olagunju,
2
and Babatunde Adekunle Murtala
3
1
Department of Pharmacology, Terapeutics & Toxicology, Faculty of Basic Clinical Sciences, Lagos State University College of
Medicine, 1-5 Oba Akinjobi Way, G.R.A, Ikeja 100001, Lagos, Nigeria
2
Department of Medical Biochemistry, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, Lagos State University College of Medicine,
1-5 Oba Akinjobi Way, G.R.A, Ikeja 100001, Lagos, Nigeria
3
Department of Physiology, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, Lagos State University College of Medicine, 1-5 Oba Akinjobi Way,
G.R.A, Ikeja 100001, Lagos, Nigeria
Correspondence should be addressed to Adejuwon Adewale Adeneye; adeneye2001@yahoo.com
Received 31 December 2018; Revised 15 April 2019; Accepted 14 July 2019; Published 14 August 2019
Guest Editor: Jos´ e C. T. Carvalho
Copyright © 2019 Adejuwon Adewale Adeneye et al. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons
Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is
properly cited.
Background. In this study, the male fertility-enhancing activity of 100, 200, and 400 mg/kg/day of Hunteria umbellata water seed
extract (HU) in Wistar rats was studied for 60 days. In doing this, efect of repeated doses of HU was studied on the weight
gain pattern, gonadosomatic index (GSI), serum follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), testosterone (TS),
prolactin (PRL), and estradiol (ES)} as well as testicular antioxidant status of the treated rats as a way of elucidating the mechanism(s)
of action of HU. Method. Tirty-six (36) male Wistar rats were randomly divided into six groups (I-VI) of six rats per group. Group
I rats were gavaged with 10 ml/kg/day of distilled water and served as an untreated control; Group II rats were gavaged with 0.3
mg/kg/day of clomiphene in distilled water; Groups III-V rats received 100 mg/kg/day, 200 mg/kg/day, and 400 mg/kg/day of HU,
respectively, and Group VI rats received 20 mg/kg/day of Vitamin C all in distilled water. All treatments were for 60 days afer which
the treated rats were humanely sacrifced. Sera of blood samples were processed for the above stated hormonal profle. Similarly,
testicular tissues obtained were processed for semen analysis and complete antioxidant profle of the HU-treated testicles by assaying
for superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione (GSH), glutathione reductase (GSR), glutathione peroxidase
(GSH-Px), and Tiobarbituric Reactive Species (TBARS). Results. Prolonged treatments with 100 mg/kg/day, 200 mg/kg/day, and
400 mg/kg/day of HU for 60 days induced dose dependent reductions in weight gain pattern with the most signifcant (p<0.001)
efect recorded with the highest dose of HU. Conversely, signifcant (p<0.001) increase was recorded for GSI at the same HU dose.
Clomiphene and HU also induced signifcant (p<0.01, p<0.001) dose dependent increases in the total sperm count, %live sperm, but
reverse efects on %dead sperm and %abnormal sperm. On the hormonal profle, oral treatment with 100 mg/kg/day, 200 mg/kg/day,
and 400 mg/kg/day of the extract induced profound (p<0.05, p<0.01, and p<0.001) dose related increases in the sera TS, LH, and
FSH while it caused reverse efect on serum PRL but caused no signifcant alterations in the serum ES levels. Similarly, oral treatment
with vitamin C and 100-400 mg/kg/day of HU induced profound (p<0.05, p<0.01, and p<0.001) increases in the antioxidant enzyme
activities. Conclusion. Overall, prolonged oral treatment with 100-400 mg/kg body weight of HU for 60 days signifcantly improved
sperm function which was mediated via enhanced spermatogenesis, steroidogenesis, and antioxidant mechanisms.
1. Background
Infertility is a major public health issue afecting one out
of fve every married couple worldwide, with approximately
30% of the condition attributable to male factors [1]. It is
on records that several factors can interfere with the process
of spermatogenesis and reduce sperm quantity and quality
with some of the identifable causal factors being ischemic
heart disease, diabetes mellitus, chronic liver diseases,
cigarette smoking, agrochemical run-ofs, air pollutants, and
Hindawi
Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Volume 2019, Article ID 7693010, 10 pages
https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/7693010