Effect of Some Vajikaran Herbs on Pendiculation Activities and In vitro Sperm Count in Male

Transcription

1 Sex Disabil (2007) 25: DOI /s y ORIGINAL PAPER Effect of Some Vajikaran Herbs on Pendiculation Activities and In vitro Sperm Count in Male Mayank Thakur Æ V. K. Dixit Published online: 21 August 2007 Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2007 Abstract Ayurveda holds a special position amongst the various traditional systems of medicine. Vajikaran is a speciality in Ayurvedic system of medicine in India dealing with herbs possessing rejuvenative and revitalizing properties for improving sexual dynamics. In the present study, the effect of five vajikaran herbs on pendiculatory activity and in-vitro sperm count was assessed. The lyophilized aqueous extracts of Asparagus racemosus Willd., Chlorophytum borivilianum Sant. F., Curculigo orchioides Gaertn., Dactylorhiza hatagirea (D. Don) Soo and Orchis latifolia Linn.(200 mg/kg b.w.) were administered orally to wistar strain male albino rats. Following this the effect of all the five drugs was evaluated for pendiculatory activity. The effect of extract on invitro sperm count was also assessed in a separate experiment where the initial sperm count and count after 30 min of incubation was determined. The results show that the herbs could significantly (P \ 0.05) improve the pendiculatory activity in male rats after 14 days of treatment. Similarly, the extract could also preserve the in-vitro sperm count significantly when compared to control group after 30 min. of incubation. Hence the present study further supports the use of these plants as vajikaran or aphrodisiac in traditional Indian medicine. Keywords Aphrodisiac Vajikaran Rasayana Sperm count Pendiculatory activity Introduction Kamasutra of Vatsyayan a treatise on the art and science of love making discuss the use of numerous herbs for enhancing virility. Ayurveda the ancient Indian system of medicine holds a special position amongst the various traditional systems of medicine and is the M. Thakur V. K. Dixit (&) Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Dr. H.S. Gour Vishwavidyalaya, Sagar, MP , India vkdixit2011@rediffmail.com M. Thakur mayankthakur25@gmail.com

2 204 Sex Disabil (2007) 25: basis of drugs recommended in Kamasutra [1]. Vajikaran is a speciality in Ayurvedic system of medicine in India dealing with herbs possessing rejuvenative and revitalizing properties for improving sexual dynamics [2]. The herbs selected for the present study viz. Asparagus racemosus Willd., Chlorophytum borivilianum Sant. F., Curculigo orchioides Gaertn., Dactylorhiza hatagirea (D. Don) Soo and Orchis latifolia Linn. are all commonly employed as aphrodisiac by traditional healers and also find mention in Ayurvedic treatise like Sushruta Samhita and Charak Samhita as aphrodisiacs [3]. The herbs have been used since a long time for their benefits in various traditional system of medicine. The clinical significance of these herbs could be perceived looking into their regular usage by native people and tribes where these herbs have been a regular source of rejuvenation and revitalization. Use of these herbs for improving the sexual dynamics and increase the overall potency is an age old practice but lack of scientific evidence in support of these drugs comes in the way of their recognition as useful remedies for sexual dysfunction. In the present study we investigated the effect of administration of lyophilized aqueous extract obtained from all the five herbs on pendiculatory activity in male rats. Since it is reported that yawning alone or associated with stretching is an important behavioral vestige which has existed throughout the evolutionary history of mammals, the increase in this activity is considered as an important attribute to sexual behavior enhancement [4]. Similarly aphrodisiac herbs have also been attributed with their ability to assist in semen production as well as preserve the sperm count in-vivo and in-vitro [5]. With these aspects as background the aqueous extracts of all these herbs were evaluated for their effect on pendiculatory activity and in-vitro sperm count. Materials and Methods Wistar strain albino rats of either sex weighing g were fed on standard pellet diet and water ad libitum. The animals were housed at room temperature (24 2 C) on a reversed day night cycle (06:00 18:00 h). All the animals were allowed to acclimatize in the test cage 7 days prior to experimentation. The experiment was carried under dim red light and the behavioral aspects were video recorded using a digital camera (Olympus, EX120). Pendiculatory behavior studies were performed in a wooden chamber with a glass wall ( cm) under diffused red light in the dark phase of the light dark cycle. The video recorded data was subjected to analysis using freeware version of Etholog v Ó E.B. Ottoni, (Sau Pauolo) run on Windows Xp. All the animal experimentation were carried out after prior permission from the institutional ethical committee of Dr. H.S. Gour University, Sagar (M.P.), India. The guidelines of Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CPCSEA), India were adhered to during the whole experimentation. The male rats were divided in 6 groups with each group comprising of 6 animals each. The animals were treated for 14 days and observations were recorded on day 0 and 14 for pendiculatory behavior. Group I was administered water only and served as control Group II 200 mg/ Kg b.w. A. racemosus extract Group III 200 mg/ Kg b.w. C. borivilianum extract Group IV 200 mg/ Kg b.w. C. orchioides extract Group V 200 mg/ Kg b.w. D. hatagirea extract Group VI 200 mg/ Kg b.w. O. latifolia extract.

3 Sex Disabil (2007) 25: Plant Material All the plants were purchased from the local market and identified at the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Dr. H.S. Gour University Sagar (M.P.). A voucher specimen for all the herbs have been submitted (MT ). Pendiculation Study Pendiculations (act of yawning and stretching) were studied following the method of Baggio and Ferrari (1983) [6]. The study was performed during the dark phase of the light dark cycle (20:00 07:00 h) and in subdued red light. Treated male rats were given respective dose of test drugs while controls received water only. The rats were then placed individually in a wooden observation chamber with a glass wall and remained undisturbed during the observation period. Yawning and stretching were counted from video recorded observation and not more than one rat was observed simultaneously. The occurrence of pendiculations was recorded for animals responding during a 1 h observation period. Each rat was used only once. The pendiculations were recorded on day 0 and day 14 of treatment. In-vitro sperm count A total of six healthy male rats weighing between 220 and 250 g were taken and sacrificed by cervical decapacitation. Left and right epididymes of all the rats were taken into 5 ml of 1% sodium citrate solution and squashed thoroughly with the help of needle and forceps until a milky suspension was obtained. The solution was filtered through 80l mesh and the volume was made upto 10 ml inclusive of washings of the filter. A 1 mg/ml solution of extracts of all the 5 herb was prepared and added into the sperm specimens in the test sample in a ratio of 0.1:1 (100 ll sperm solution: 1 ml extract solution). The sperms were counted at 0 min and 30 min after incubation at room temparature. The spermatozoa were counted in 5 WBC counting chamber [7]. The average number of sperms per chamber are reported. Results and Discussion The effects of various extracts and control on pendiculations are as shown in Table 1. Results showed that all the five extracts produced a significant increase in the mean yawning number when compared with controls (P \ 0.05). The percentage increase in yawning was 75.19% for A. racemosus treated, 82.21% for C. borivilianum treated, 74.26% for C. orchioides treated, 74.87% for D. hatagirea treated and 80.1% for O. latifolia treated group respectively as compared to control group animals. Similarly, in case of stretching behavior a 69.2% increase was observed in A. racemosus treated, 70.4% in C. borivilianum treated, 65.12% in C. orchioides treated, 63.21% in D. hatagirea treated and 61.17% in O. latifolia treated animals respectively. The sperm count in control and extract test groups is presented in Table 1. In-vitro sperm count determination after incubation with extract samples has been considered as an important parameter for evaluating the effectiveness of any herbal extract in preserving the

4 206 Sex Disabil (2007) 25: Table 1 Effect of treatments on pendiculatory behavior and in-vitro sperm count Treatment Mean number of pendiculation (mean SE) Average number of sperms/chamber of WBC counting chamber (after 0.1:1 ratio mixing of Yawning Stretching respective extract and sperm containing solution) 0 day 14 day 0 day 14 day 0 min 30 min incubation Control ** Group II (A. racemosus) * * * Group III (C. borivilianum) * * * Group IV (C. orchioides) * * * Group V (D. hatagirea) * * * Group VI (O. latifolia) * * * n = 6 for each group the dose for pendiculation activity was 200 mg/kg b.w by oral route daily *P \ 0.05 considered as significant

5 Sex Disabil (2007) 25: sperm count [8]. Although, at 0 min there is no significant difference in the average sperm counts in all the groups but a significant difference was clearly evident after 30 min. There was a significant reduction in average sperm number in (48.2%) in control group which was only reduced by 24.4% in A. racemosus treated, 18.8% in C. borivilianum treated, 23.4% in C. orchioides treated, 24.3% in D. hatagirea treated and 24.6 % in O. latifolia treated group when compared to their sperm count at 0 min. The increased sperm count in drug treated groups suggests that the drug provide better environment for their survival especially carbohydrate rich nutrition available in the extracts probably enable them to avoid death due to lack of nutrition. Argiola et al have correlated pediculatory activity with erectile response and sexual pleasure [9, 10]. The enhanced pendiculatory activity of the extract thus is suggestive of improved erectile response and increased pleasure which are desirable attributes of any aphrodisiac agent. Modern life style and associated pressure have resulted in sexual dysfunctions and is also a major cause of impaired sexuality. Impairment of sexual functions is a major cause of psychological distress and could result in personality related disorders if remained untreated. Herbal drugs and remedies have been a part of the lexicon of traditional system of medicines throughout the world and number of herbs have been used in one form or other for improving the sexual performance. It would be apt to state that utilization of herbal medicine and safe herbal products for improving sexual dynamics could serve the purpose for providing ameliorative effects against sexual dysfunctions. The present study therefore provides a partial evidence of effectiveness of these herbs as aphrodisiac and hold the recommendations of Ayurvedic treatise valid. C. borivilianum was found to be most effective amongst the drugs investigated. Other extracts showed the activity in following order A. racemosus [ C. orchioides [ D. hatagirea [ O. latifolia. Further behavioral studies and studies on testicular functions of these herbs are underway and would help in adjudging the overall potential of these traditionally acclaimed Vajikaran Rasayan. References 1. Hooper, A.: Kamasutra: classic love making techniques reinterpreted for today s lovers, 71 pp. DK Publishing, Hongkong (2002) 2. Puri, H.S.: Rasayana Ayurvedic herbs for longevity and rejuvenation, 212 pp. Taylor and Francis, London (2003) 3. Thakur, M., Dixit, V.K.: Effect of Chlorophytum borivilianum on sexual behavior in male rats. Indian Drugs 43(4), (2005) 4. Ferrari, W., Gessa, G.L., Vargiu, L.: Behavioural effects induced by intracisternally injected ACTH and MSH. Ann. NY Acad. Sci. 104, (1963) 5. Chen, J.C., Xu, M.X., Chen, L.D., Chen, Y.N., Chiu, T.H.: Effect of panax notoginseng extracts on inferior sperm motility in vitro. Am. J. Chin. Med. 29, (1999) 6. Baggio, G., Ferrari, F.: The role of dopaminergic receptors in the behavioural effects induced by lisuride in male rats. Psychopharmacology 80, (1983) 7. Saxena, S., Dixit, V.K.: Role of total alkaloids of Mucuna pruriens Baker. On spermatogenesis in male rats. Ind. J. Nat. Prod. 3(2), 3 7 (1987) 8. Wiwanitkit, V.: In vitro effect of ginseng extract on sperm count. Sex. Disabil. 23(4), (2005) 9. Argiola, A., Melis, M.R., Gessa, G.L.: Yawning and penile erection: Central dopamine oxytocin adrenocorticotropin connection. Ann. NY Acad. Sci. 525, (1988) 10. Ang, H.H., Sim, M.K.: Evaluation of pendiculation activities in male rats after oral administration of Eurycoma longifolia Jack. Pharm. Biol. 36(2), (1998)