Abstract
Background
Several plants are traditionally used as birth control agents by the rural people
in India. Mimosa pudica is one of the folk medicinal plants commonly used as antifertility agent in some
places in India. The present work was carried out to evaluate the claimed antifertility
effect of the plant by carrying out pharmacological studies with the root extract
of the plant.
Study Design
Air-dried roots of M. pudica were extracted using methanol. Dried methanol extract of the root was administered
orally to Swiss albino mice for 21 consecutive days. Estrous cycle, reproductive hormones
(LH, FSH, prolactin, estradiol and progesterone) and number of litters produced were
studied in both control and extract-administered groups by using standard methods.
Phytochemical studies of the methanolic root extract were carried out using qualitative
and thin-layer chromatography methods.
Results
M. pudica root extract, when administered orally at a dose of 300 mg/kg body weight/day, prolonged
the length of the estrous cycle with significant increase in the duration of the diestrous
phase and reduced the number of litters in albino mice. The number of litters was
increased in the posttreatment period. The analysis of the principal hormones (LH,
FSH, prolactin, estradiol and progesterone) involved in the regulation of the estrous
cycle showed that the root extract altered gonadotropin release and estradiol secretion.
Conclusions
The root extract of M. pudica has antifertility effect as it prolongs the estrous cycle and disturbs the secretion
of gonadotropin hormones in albino mice. The decrease in FSH level in the proestrus
and estrus stages in the extract-administered group compared with those of control
animals indicates the disturbance of estrous cycle and ovulation through suppression
of FSH.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: November 12, 2007
Accepted:
August 30,
2007
Received in revised form:
August 28,
2007
Received:
May 28,
2007
Footnotes
���This investigation is financially supported by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India.
������The investigation reported in this article was carried out by our group in the research laboratory of Cotton College, Guwahati, India, and the study conforms to the International Guiding Principles for Biomedical Research Involving Animals (CIOMS, Geneva, 1985). The Cotton College Research Council has reviewed and approved this research work for publication.
Identification
Copyright
© 2007 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
