Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

In vitro immobilizing and spermicidal effects of methanol leaf extract of Euphorbia hirta Linn. (Euphorbiaceae) on caprine spermatozoa

Chike F Oguejiofor¹ , Obinna B Onyejekwe², Onyinyechi I Onwuzurike¹

¹Department of Veterinary Obstetrics and Reproductive Diseases; ²Department of Veterinary Physiology and Pharmacology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Nigeria, Nsukka 410001, Nigeria.

For correspondence:- Chike Oguejiofor Email: chike.oguejiofor@unn.edu.ng

Accepted: 22 January 2021 Published: 28 February 2021

Citation: Oguejiofor CF, Onyejekwe OB, Onwuzurike OI. In vitro immobilizing and spermicidal effects of methanol leaf extract of Euphorbia hirta Linn. (Euphorbiaceae) on caprine spermatozoa. Trop J Pharm Res 2021; 20(2):329-336 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v20i2.16

© 2021 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the in vitro effects of methanol leaf extract of E. hirta (MLEEH) on the motility, viability and morphology of caprine spermatozoa.

Methods: The effect of MLEEH treatment (1.25, 2.5, 5, 10 and 20 mg per mL) on caprine sperm percentage total and progressive motility, viability and total abnormalities were evaluated at 1, 5 and 10 min post-treatment. Sperm revival test was used to evaluate the reversibility of sperm incapacitation following MLEEH treatment.

Results: There were significant interactions (p < 0.001) between the effects of MLEEH concentration and the duration of treatment on sperm total motility, progressive motility and viability. Increase in MLEEH concentration and the duration of treatment caused significant decreases (p < 0.05) in sperm total motility, progressive motility and viability, whereas sperm morphology was not altered. Washing and supplementation of MLEEH-treated sperm failed to revive sperm motility.

Conclusion: E. hirta treatment causes concentration-dependent and time-dependent decreases in total and progressive sperm motility and sperm viability, as well as irreversible immobilization of spermatozoa. These findings suggest possible adverse effects of E. hirta on the fertility of males. Thus, the extract can be potentially developed as an antifertility or contraceptive agent.

Keywords: Caprine spermatozoa, Euphorbia hirta, Sperm morphology, Sperm motility, Sperm viability, Spermicidal