ABSTRACT

 The study is aimed at investigating the effects of oral administration of aqueous extract of the root of Sphenocentrum jollyanum on the testicular size, testosterone, follicle- stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone and prolactin levels in male wistar albino rats. 8 albino rats were purchased and were randomly distributed into cages, they were acclimatized for two weeks in a well ventilated animal house, and they feed with normal commercial feed with clean drinking water. The rats were then divided into 2 groups; A, for control and B for those that were treated with the extract at 400mg/kg. The extract was administered orally for 14 days; within this period, the live body weights and testicular sizes were estimated. At the end, blood samples were collected from all the groups through ocular puncture into plain sample bottle for hormonal assay. The serum level of testosterone, follicle stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone and prolactin were deteiriiined using enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA) technique. Data from the study was analyzed using ANOVA at 95% confidence leveLThe mean live body weight of the control and treated rats significantly (pO.05) increase in weight when compared with the control. Also there was a non-significant (p> 0.05) variation in the mean testicular size parameters in the treated and control rats, although the testicular size parameters of the treated rats increased within the period when compared with the control. The results of the study showed a non-significant (p> 0.05) decreased in testosterone concentration of the test group (6.99±0.69) when compared with the control group (10.5 1±1.61), and a dose dependent significant (p< 0.05) decrease in serum level of LH of the test group (3.09±0.25), when compared with the mean value of the control group (4.92±0.66). It also showed that the FSH level of the test group (5.27±0.26) decreased significantly (p< 0.05) when compared with the mean value of the control (9.5 8±0.60). The level of prolactin showed a significant (p< 0.05) increase in the mean value of the test group (39.70±0.16) when compared to that of the control group (36.03±0.93).Thus, the results from the study shows that the aqueous root extract of the plant may possess an anti-fertility property