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Androgenic and Antifertility Properties of Medicinal Plants: A Review
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| Author:
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SOGOLO LUCKY LEBELO
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| Abstract:
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The use of medicinal plants in the treatment of different human ailments dates back many decades ago. Extensive bibliographic review was undertaken by analysing textbooks and peer reviewed papers. ScienceDirect, Scopus, Scielo, PubMed and Google Scholar searches were undertaken in compiling this review paper using terms such as “androgenic”, “fertility” and “antifertility”, properties of medicinal plants. Researchers are now investigating possible mechanisms involved in treating these ailments. In this paper, the focus was first on medicinal plants used to treat male reproductive conditions such as infertility, impotence, low libido and erectile dysfunction. Secondly, this review paper focused on the medicinal plants which have antifertility properties, which could be of significant importance in the development of a new contraceptive. This review outlines how medicinal plants and their extracts have been investigated in vivo and in vitro and the findings of those research studies. Most of the studies were performed using animals as experimental models and very few used humans as subjects. The findings in this review indicate that the presence of antioxidants in the plants help to counteract the cellular and tissue damage caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS). In addition, the presence of the saponins found in some plants is associated with the antifertility action. This information will be helpful to the society and health communities in developing relevant drugs to treat male infertility, and those medicinal plants that can be used to develop a possible new contraceptive drug.
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| Keyword:
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Medicinal plants; Male Reproductive Function; Androgenic; Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS), Antifertility.
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| EOI:
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-
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| DOI:
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https://doi.org/10.31838/ijpr/2021.13.03.123
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| Download:
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