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Active spermatogenesis induced by a reiterated administration of Globularia alypum L. aqueous leaf extract

1★, 2, 3★ Corresponding author

  1. 1Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Société des Industries Pharmaceutiques de Tunisie (SIPHAT), Fondouk Choucha-Radès, Tunisia
  2. 2Department of Biopharmaceutics, Auvergne University, France
  3. 3Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

CORRESPONDENCE

Badreddine Fehri

Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Société des Industries Pharmaceutiques de Tunisie (SIPHAT), Fondouk Choucha-Radès, Tunisia

bms.fehri@yahoo.com

Volume 4, Issue 3 · pp. 138-147 · 2012 · DOI: 10.4103/0974-8490.99073

ABSTRACT

Globularia alypum L. (Globulariaceae) is a shrub growing in the Mediterranean basin and known to be used as a popular medicine for its several pharmacological properties against rheumatism, gout, typhoid, intermittent fever, and diabetes. The acute and chronic toxicities of a G. alypum L. aqueous leaf extract were studied in animals. Acute toxicity was performed in male and female mice whereas chronic toxicity was realized in male and female rats that orally received the drug at the doses of 300 and 600 mg/kg/24 h for 30 days. Acute toxicity showed that the extract, administered by the oral route, does not induce any mortality even for a dose of 10,000 mg/kg. Administered by the intra-peritoneal route to female and male mice, the LD50 of the extract was found to be of 2750 and 2550 mg/kg, respectively. A chronic toxicity study showed that, compared to the control groups that only received the vehicle (water), the drugs affects weight growth (effects more pronounced in female than in male rats), some organs weight after autopsy, hematological and biochemical parameters and histology of some principal organs (lungs: histological grades I to II pulmonary hypertension (PHT), respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and lymphoid hyperplasia; esophagus: thinning down of esophageal wall, atrophic muscular coat). The most important finding of the study was the recorded active spermatogenesis induced by the reiterated administrations of the drug that was confirmed by reducing the administered dose and the period of treatment (100 mg/kg/24 h for 15 days). It is suggested that the G. alypum L. leaf extract contains active substances with androgenic properties that could be used in human therapy.

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    Fehri, B., Aiache, J., & Ahmed, K. M. (2012). Active spermatogenesis induced by a reiterated administration of Globularia alypum L. aqueous leaf extract. Pharmacognosy Research, 4(3), 138-147. https://doi.org/10.4103/0974-8490.99073

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    © 2012 Author(s)

    This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as the author is credited and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms. CC BY-NC-SA 4.0