Ethanolic Extracts Of Vernonia Amygdalina And Ocimum Gratissimum Enhance Testicular Improvement In Diabetic Wistar Rats

Abstract

To study the effects of ethanolic extracts of Vernonia amygdalina and Ocimum gratissimum on the testes of diabetic rats, forty male rats were used. Group A consisted of eight (8) rats which served as nondiabetic control. The remaining rats were injected intraperitoneally with streptozotocin to induce diabetes. The rats confirmed diabetic were randomly divided into four experimental groups (B, C, D and E) made up of eight rats each. Group B served as the diabetic control and were given normal saline. Groups C, D and E received 200mg/kg body weights of Vernonia amygdalina (VA), Ocimum gratissimum (OC) and a combination of VA and OC respectively. This investigation lasted for 28 days. Results revealed normal testicular architecture in the normal control. Diabetic control exhibited alteration of germinal epithelium, distortion of seminiferous tubules as well as vacuolation of seminiferous tubules. The effects of the extracts on diabetic rats’ testes showed improvements compared to the diabetic control group. These improvements were more pronounced in the group D rats which received OC than in group C treated with VA. A more appreciable testicular improvement was observed in group E treated with combination of the extracts of VA and OC. We therefore conclude that the use of the extracts of these plants should be used in combination as they exert a better improvement to combat the adverse effects of diabetes on the testes of male rats.