Abstract
Honeybee pollen is consumed as natural food in healthy human diet in many European and Asian countries. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of pollen use on some reproductive parameters. In this study, mature male rats were fed on pollen of three different plant sources (Trifolium spp., Raphine's spp. and Cistus spp.) at 60 mg/per animal/ per day over a 30-day period. At the end of the treatment, testosterone levels of rats were analyzed and weights of testis, epididymis, prostate and seminal vesicle were recorded. In addition, epididymal sperms were counted. There were increases in testosterone levels, sperm counts and daily sperm production of rats fed with pollen of Raphine's spp. and Cists spp. There were no significant changes in absolute weights, except in prostate weights. Also there were no changes in relative testis, prostate and seminal vesicle weights of rats fed on pollen, but relative epididymis weights of rats in pollen groups decreased. The results of this study show that bee pollen caused an increase in testosterone level and sperm counts of male rats. We suggest that bee pollen has an androgenic effect.
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