Abstract:
This study investigated the effects of the administration of methanolic leaf extract of Piper guineense on serum concentration of testosterone, cauda epididymal sperm reserves (CESR) , gonadosomatic weights of the testes and epididymides as well as testicular histomorphology of male albino rats. Twe nty four adult male rats of 12 weeks of age were used for the study. C o m m e r c i a l p e ll e t e d f e e d a n d w a t e r w e r e p r o v i d e d a d li b i t u m . T h e r a t s w e r e r a n d o m l y selected into 4 groups of six rats each designated A, B, C and D. Group A served as untreated control a nd received only distilled water; while groups B, C and D received 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg body weight of the methanolic leaf extract of Piper guineense respectively for 30 days. O r a l a d m i n i s t r a t i o n o f t h e p l a n t l e a f e x t r a c t w a s d o n e e v e r y o t h e r d a y w i t h t h e a i d o f o r o g a s t r i c c a n n u l a . T h e r e w a s n o s i g n i f i c a n t v a r i a t i o n ( p > 0 . 0 5 ) i n t h e m e a n s e r u m testosterone concentration and cauda epididymal sperm reserves across the different groups. However, the mean gonadosomatic weights of the testes of the different tre atment groups and the mean gonadosomatic weight of the epididymis of only group C (100 mg/kg body weig ht) were significantly higher (p <0.05) than that of the control. There was no obvious histomorphologic lesion in testes of the rats of the different group s. It was concluded that oral administration of methanolic seed extract of P. guineense at 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg body w e i g h t e v e r y o t h e r d a y f o r 3 0 d a y s d i d n o t a f f e c t t e s t o s t e r o n e c o n c e n t r a t i o n , C E S R a n d testicular histomorphology but caused an increase i n the allometric weight of the testes.
