Safety and Free Testosterone Boosting Efficacy of a Novel Curculigo orchioides Extract (Blamus™) in Male Rats

Abstract

Curculigo orchioides Gaertn (family Hypoxidaceae, also known as black or kali musli), is an endangered medicinal plant used for diverse medicinal purposes including impotency, aphrodisiac, tonic, jaundice, and skin ailments. phytochemical investigations of rhizomes revealed the presence of a novel phenolic glycoside, curculigoside, triterpenoid, saponins, flavones, cellulose, hemicellulose, and calcium oxalate. We developed a novel extract of Curculigo orchioides (commercially known as Blamus™) and assessed its dose‐dependent efficacy (0‐, 10‐, 25‐ and 50 mg/kg body weight p.o.) in male rats (200–230 grams; n = 6) over a period of 28 days. Dose‐ and time‐dependent efficacy of Blamus™ was evaluated on body weight, serum free and total testosterone levels. Furthermore, extensive histopathological analyses and blood chemistry analyses were performed to assess the liver function (SGOT and SGPT), kidney function (BUN) and heart function (creatinine) as the beginning and end of the study. Blamus™ didn't cause any marked elevation in serum free testosterone levels at either10‐ or 25 mg/kg body weight doses, however, a 50 mg/kg body weight dose of Blamus showed a significant increase in serum free testosterone level (*p < 0.0001). However, no significant increases were observed in serum total testosterone levels at 0‐, 10‐, 25‐ or 50 mg/kg body weight doses of Blamus™. No significant changes were observed in serum SGOT, SGPT, BUN and CK levels following treatment with either 0‐, 10‐, 25‐ or 50 mg/kg body weight doses of Blamus™, which demonstrated its broad spectrum safety. Histopathological analyses including investigations on the seminiferous tubules, spermatogenesis, sperm cell morphology, Leydig cells and Sertoli cells following treatment with either 0‐, 10‐, 25‐ or 50 mg/kg body weight doses of Blamus™ demonstrated dose‐dependent improvement in structural integrity. These data demonstrated that Blamus™ may serve as a safe and novel, natural testosterone booster and provide broad spectrum application is sports nutrition, muscle building and exercise pathophysiology.Support or Funding InformationThis project was funded by Cepham Inc, Piscataway, NJ