ABSTRACT

The effect of oral administration of some dietary lipids on fertility hormones was examined on wistar albino rats. Female rats were orally administered the three different dietary lipids daily for 21 days, while the control group received only water. Reproductive hormones: testosterone, progesterone, estradiol, follicle stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone and prolactin levels were assayed by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay method using assay kits. Data were analyzed by ANOVA test and p<O.05 was considered significant. From the results, serum testosterone level showed a significant @<0.05) decrease in the group treated with soybean oil (41.31±3.18) accompanied by a non-significant (p>O.OS) decrease in the groups treated with olive oil (44.78±2.18) and margarine respectively, relative to the control group (46.00±2.39). There was a non-significant (p>O.05) decrease in serum progesterone level in the groups treated with soybean oil (6.68±0.42) and olive oil (6.72±0.45) accompanied by a non-significant (p>O.05) increase in margarine (7.75±1.36) treated group respectively in comparison with the control group (6.47±0.42). Furthermore, serum estradiol level was non-significantly (p>0.05) increased in the groups administered soybean oil (1.64±0.28) and margarine (1.65±0.10) accompanied by a non-significant (p>O.OS) difference in the olive oil (1.58±0.12) treated group relative to the control (1.54±0.32) group. Also, serum luteinizing hormone level was significantly (p<O.05) increased in the group treated with olive oil (20.57±15.00) followed by a non-significant (p>0.05) difference in the groups treated with margarine (15.71±6.70) and soybean oil (15.46±1.76) relative to the control (15.18±3.58) group. Similarly, serum follicle stimulating hormone level was significantly (p<O.05) increased in the olive oil (17.16±10.81) and soybean oil (17.08±7.62) treated groups accompanied by a non-significant (p>0.05) increase in the margarine (14.38±7.26) treated group relative to the control (12.41±4.44) group. There was a significant (p<O.05) increase in serum prolactin level in the groups administered olive oil (12.19±9.70) and margarine (12.19±6.84) accompanied by a non-significant (p>0.05) increase in soy oil (7.78±3.41) treated group relative to the control (5.71±2.40) group. Based on the results, it is indicative that the three different dietary lipids especially olive oil and soybean oil have strong capability of enhancing hormonal functions by stimulating hypothalamus-pituitary ovarian axis and subsequently the fertility of females. Hence, consumption of these lipids could reduce risk of infertility in females.