Antispermatogenic and antifertility effects of pegaga (centella asiatica L.)in male rats

Abstract

Global searching for antifertility agents which are safe and effective with minimun effects remains the big challenge nowadays. Many studies have been conducted to 1 particular compounds in plants that have antifertility effect, but most of them were Pegaga or Centella asiatica L. is one of the popular herb commonly eaten raw as 'I amongst Melayu people. Traditional use of pegaga has been reported to have antife effect on male anima!. However, the effect of this medicinal herb has not been comp. elucidated. Therefore, the objectives of this study l~'ere to investigate the effects of p (Centella asiatica L.) on male rat testis histology, sperm concentration, sperm motilis serum testosterone level. Thirty two Sprague-Dawley adult male rats twelve week were divided into four groups, i.e. control (distilled water); low dose group (10011 body weight); medium dose group (200 mg/kg body weight); and high dose group mg/kg body weight). All treatments were given by force feeding for 42 days. On d~ rats were sacrificed under chloroform anesthesia. Cauda epididymal sperm concent and motility showed significant decrease while serum testosterone level was re compared to control Treatment in medium and high dose showed the most significant reduction (p<0.05) in sperm concentration. Histologically, testis in control group normal features with successive stages of transformation of the seminiferous epithelium into spermatozoa, whereas treated groups showed reduction of spermatozoa in the of the seminiferous tubules. It is concluded that C. Asiatica L. showed antispermatogenic and antifertility effects in male rats reproduction