Abstract
Edible bird’s nest (EBN) is reported to have a positive in vitro proliferative effect and contain male reproductive hormones. Spermatogonia cells proliferate during spermatogenesis under male reproductive hormones stimulation that include testosterone, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), and luteinizing hormone (LH). Characterization of EBN through liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LCMS) has found testosterone as a base peak. Six types of amino acids, estradiol and sialic acid were among the major peaks that have been characterized. Based on the presence of these reproductive components, this study evaluated different doses of EBN on sperm parameters and male reproductive hormones of Sprague Dawley rats. Sixteen Sprague Dawley rats at the age of eight weeks were randomly and equally divided into four groups, which are Control, 10 mg/kg BW/d 50 mg/kg BW/d, and 250 mg/kg BW/d EBN group. The rats were fed with EBN enriched pellet daily and water ad-libitum. Rats were sacrificed and the organ was weighed for organ coefficients after eight weeks of treatment. Sperm concentration, percentage of sperm motility, and sperm viability were evaluated. Meanwhile, ELISA method was used to measure testosterone, FSH, and LH. Findings showed that there were no significant differences in organ coefficient between groups. Supplementation of 250 mg/kg BW/d EBN demonstrated a significant increase in sperm concentration, percentage of sperm motility as well as FSH and LH level compared to 10 mg/kg BW/d group. There was a dose-dependent increase in testosterone level but was not significant between groups. Based on these findings, EBN is concluded to have crucial effects on male reproductive parameters.
Highlights
Edible bird’s nest (EBN) has been a delicacy in Chinese traditional medicine since the 16th century (Medway, 1969)
Libido in men usually is affected by a multitude of factors but it is closely regulated by the testosterone hormone (Allan et al, 2008; Corona et al, 2014; Rizk et al, 2017)
This traditional claim of EBN on libido may be due to the presence of testosterone hormone in the EBN and its effect on promoting the testosterone release
Summary
Edible bird’s nest (EBN) has been a delicacy in Chinese traditional medicine since the 16th century (Medway, 1969). The nest was partly built by the male swiftlet from the specialized salivary glands secretion of Aerodramus fuciphagus during the breeding season (Medway, 1962) and is found dominantly in South East Asia (Phach and Voisin, 2007; Aowphol et al, 2008; Babji et al, 2015; Manchi, 2015). Essential amino acids like histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, phenylalanine, methionine, threonine, and valine have been detected and mentioned by various researches (Marcone, 2005; Saengkrajang et al, 2013). All these nutritional contents might contribute to a remarkable therapeutic potential of EBN
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