Evaluting The Antifertility Effects Of Some Plant Extracts And Testosterone In The House Mouse As A Prelude To Its Control

Abstract

The present study deals with evaluating the anti-fertility effects of some locally available plants on male albino mice as a prelude to using them for the control of the commensal house mouse, Mus musculus. The extracts of each of the seeds of Sea Island cotton, Gossypium barbadense; soya beans, Glycine max; basil, Ocimum basilium; rosemary, Rosmarinus officinalis were tested with male albino mice. The synthetic testosterone was also tested with both sexes of albino mice.

The cotton seed extract was prepared using three solvents; ethanol, chloroform and ether. The low (105 mg/kg) and high (210 mg/kg) doses of the ethanolic extract of cotton seeds did not have anti-fertility effects. The chloroform and ether extracts of cotton seeds (210 mg/kg), on the other hand, have affected the fertility treated males. Anti-fertility effects were manifested by a high reduction in each of sperm count, percentage of motile sperm, concentration of free testosterone and the presence of small-sized seminiferous tubules with thickened basement membranes. It is also manifested by the presence of markedly damaged