Efficacy of aphrodisiac plants towards improvement in semen quality and motility in infertile males

J Complement Integr Med. 2012 Feb 17:9:Article 6. doi: 10.1515/1553-3840.1520.

Abstract

Infertility is the inability to conceive after one year of unprotected intercourse. In the present study, herbal composition prepared by using medicinal plants having aphrodisiac potentials was administered orally to the albino rats for 40 days and to the oligospermic patients for 90 days in order to prove the efficacy of herbal composition. Herbal composition was the mixture (powder form) of the medicinal plants namely, Mucuna pruriens (Linn), Chlorophytum borivillianum (Sant and Fernand), and Eulophia campestris (Wall). In the neem oil treated albino rats, there was significant reduction in almost all the parameters viz. body weight, testes and epididymes weight, sperm density and motility, serum levels of testosterone, FSH, and LH compared with control rats. Treatment with said herbal composition for 40 days results significant increased in the body weight, testis, and epididymes weight in rats. Concomitantly the sperm motility and the sperm density were significantly increased. After 90 days of treatment with this herbal composition, sperm density vis-a-vis motility was increased in oligozoospermic patients as a result of elevation in serum testosterone levels. No side effects were noticed during the entire duration of the trial.

Publication types

  • Evaluation Study

MeSH terms

  • Administration, Oral
  • Adult
  • Animals
  • Aphrodisiacs / pharmacology
  • Aphrodisiacs / therapeutic use*
  • Biomarkers / blood
  • Drug Administration Schedule
  • Drug Combinations
  • Humans
  • Liliaceae*
  • Male
  • Medicine, Ayurvedic
  • Middle Aged
  • Mucuna*
  • Oligospermia / blood
  • Oligospermia / drug therapy*
  • Orchidaceae*
  • Phytotherapy*
  • Plant Preparations / pharmacology
  • Plant Preparations / therapeutic use*
  • Plant Roots
  • Plants, Medicinal
  • Rats
  • Seeds
  • Semen Analysis
  • Sperm Motility / drug effects
  • Testosterone / blood

Substances

  • Aphrodisiacs
  • Biomarkers
  • Drug Combinations
  • Plant Preparations
  • Testosterone