The Protective Effects of Carrot Seed Extract on Spermatogenesis and Cauda Epididymal Sperm Reserves in Gentamicin Treated Rats

Carrot (daucus carota l.) is known to possess antifertility properties in female.however, according to iranian traditional medicine, it can increase the potency in men. theaim of this study was to investigate the influence of carrot seed extract (cse) on spermatogenesis,number and motility of sperms in cauda epididyme in male rats.materials and methods: forty adult male rats were randomly divided into 5 groups: controlgroup, groups receiving low- and high doses of cse, animals that received high-dose of csewith gentamicin, and a gentamicin only group. after 4 weeks treatment, fasting serum sampleswere obtained for the sex hormone analysis. under anesthesia, testis, cauda epididymidesand sperm ducts were dissected and sperm count, motility and cauda epididymis spermreserves (cesr) were determined. histopathological changes of testis were also studied toassess spermatogenesis. data analysis was performed using one-way anova followed bytukey hsd tests.results: administration of cse caused a significant increase in cesr compared with thecontrol (28.2 ± 1.8 vs. 45.1 ± 2.0, ×106). the extract could also protect testis from the gentamicin-induced necrosis. the cse administration caused about 3.5-times increase in thelh levels even in spite of receiving 5 mg/kg/day gentamicin with no significant effect on fshlevels. the testosterone concentrations in the group received 400 mg/kg cse were 30% and83% higher than its levels in the control and the gentamicin treated group, respectively.conclusion: cse can overcome reproductive toxicity of gentamicin and induces spermatogenesisprobably mainly through the elevation of testosterone levels. it appears that thisextract has opposite effects on male and female reproductive systems.