reproductive-enhancing potentials of methanol extracts of sphenostylis stenocarpa seeds in male wistar rats

Background and aim: medicinal plant extracts are still commonly used in folk medicine in developing countries. the seed of african yam bean (sphenostylis stenocarpa) is a very expensive food legume in nigeria. previous studies on s. stenocarpa plant have proven it to be of an outstanding medical significance. hence, this study investigated the reproductive-enhancing potentials of methanol extracts of sphenostylis stenocarpa seeds in male wistar rats.materials and methods: a total of 144 adult rats were used for the experiment. they were divided into 4 groups (a – d) and replicated trice. group a served as the normal control, while groups b, c and d received three graded doses (800, 1200 and 1600 mg/kg) of the extracts respectively by oral intubation. the rats' gonad characteristics, sperm parameters and hormonal analyses were determined weekly using standard procedures starting from week 0 (day 1) to week 12. the data were analyzed statistically using anova.results: the mean weekly gonad characteristics of the male rats in the treatment groups showed overall dose and duration-dependent significant differences compared with the control. the body weights of the male rats significantly reduced (p<0.05), whereas the testes weights, gonad somatic index, sperm count and sperm motility of the rats significantly increased (p<0.05). testosterone responded to the plant extracts. the testosterone levels of all the treated rats significantly increased.conclusion: the methanol seed extracts of s. stenocarpa demonstrated an overall potency to enhance the reproduction in the wistar rats.