Abstract
Lycium barbarum, commonly known as wolfberry, has been used as a traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of infertility and sexual dysfunction. However, there is still a scarcity of experimental evidence to support the pro-sexual effect of wolfberry. The aim of this study is to determine the effect of Lycium barbarum polysaccharides (LBP) on male sexual behavior of rats. Here we report that oral feeding of LBP for 21 days significantly improved the male copulatory performance including increase of copulatory efficiency, increase of ejaculation frequency and shortening of ejaculation latency. Furthermore, sexual inhibition caused by chronic corticosterone was prevented by LBP. Simultaneously, corticosterone suppressed neurogenesis in subventricular zone and hippocampus in adult rats, which could be reversed by LBP. The neurogenic effect of LBP was also shown in vitro. Significant correlation was found between neurogenesis and sexual performance, suggesting that the newborn neurons are associated with reproductive successfulness. Blocking neurogenesis in male rats abolished the pro-sexual effect of LBP. Taken together, these results demonstrate the pro-sexual effect of LBP on normal and sexually-inhibited rats, and LBP may modulate sexual behavior by regulating neurogenesis.
Highlights
Lycium barbarum has been used as an oriental herb in Asian countries for a long history [1]
Lycium barbarum polysaccharides (LBP) Facilitated Male Sexual Behavior There were no significant differences in the ML, Mount frequency (MF), IL and Intromission frequency (IF)
The present study demonstrated the enhancing effect of LBP on male sexual behavior in rats
Summary
Lycium barbarum (commonly known as wolfberry) has been used as an oriental herb in Asian countries for a long history [1]. Being an anti-aging herb, wolfberry has been used for maintaining eye health, nourishing the liver and kidney [2]. Different pre-clinical studies aim at determining the precise biological activities of wolfberry and the active components exerting the effect. Lycium barbarum polysaccharides (LBP), as a major constituent of wolfberry [4], have been shown to exert a wide range of biological effects, including neuroprotection against neurotoxic insults [5,6], having anti-aging properties in an aging animal model [7], prevention of glaucoma induced by elevated intraocular pressure [4,8] and immune modulation [9]
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