Histomorphological Studies of Methanolic and Aqueous Leaf Extract of Annona Squamosa on the Testis and Epididymis of Male Sprague Dawley rats

Male reproductive capacity continues to be adversely affected by environmental, industrial and pharmaceutical toxins. The producing power of sperm cells in the testis and the sperm modification activities in the epididymis are fundamental in establishing male capacity to reproduce itself. Medicinal plants are of immense value in the field of prevention and treatment of diseases. The use of plant extracts as fertility enhancer in human is now in the increase because of the shifting of attention from synthetic drugs to natural plant. Thus, the focus of the present study is to examine the fertility enhancing properties of the leave extract of Annona Squamosa in male Sprague-Dawley rats. Twenty-one rats were divided equally into three groups of seven rats each. Group 1, the control group received distilled water, Group 2 received 300mg of Annona squamosa methanol leaves extract and group 3 received 400mg of Annona squamosa aqueous leaves extract. The administration was done orally for 21 days. There was a significant increase in the percentage of progressive sperm motility and sperm counts in the aqueous and methanol extract treated rats when compared with the control.There were no damage to the seminiferous tubules in the treated rats with a well outlined tubules interspersed with seminiferous epithelium. There was consistent presence of numerous sperm cells in the lumen of the epididymis of the treated groups which was comparable with the control. There is structural evidence that aqueous and methanol leaves extracts of the Annona squamosa enhanced sperm morphology and function in both the testis and epididymis in rat.

Key Words: Sperm, Annona squamosa, Reproduction, Fertility