Jussiaea repens as a Herbal Cotraceptive-A Mating Study in Male Rats

Abstract

Jussiaea repens (locally called Kesardam) is a medicinal herb in different countries in the world. It grows in wetlands and is also used as vegetables and animal-forage. In Papua New Guinea leaves and stems of this plant are considered as contraceptive in preventing pregnancy. But suitable studies of this plant on male reproduction are yet not available. The present study was designed to investigate the anti-gonadal property of J. repens in male rats through mating studies. The aqueous extract of J. Repens at oral dose of 200 mg/kg b.wt/day for 28 days caused no signifcant change in b.wt but weight of testis and cauda epididymis, sperm motility, total sperm count from cauda epididymis, sperm viability and normal sperms were signifcantly reduced implantation site where in control it was 100% fertility and 10.7 implantation sites. In recovery group, 87.5% fertility and 9.8 implantation sites were observed per rat. This is near to normal. Withdrawal of drug for successive 28 days caused marked recovery in testicular and epididymal weight, sperm motility, count, viability and morphology possibly due to inhibition of spermatogenesis and steroidogenesis. The reversal studies caused recovery of reproductive parameters towards normal revealing the nontoxicity. So the present study may confrm the anti-fertility effect of J. repens. Therefore, it may be used as herbal male contraceptive.