ABSTRACT
The antioxidant potential of many flavonoid containing plants is increasingly being exploited in therapy. Hibiscus sabdariffa (HS) is one of the most widely used nutraceuticals used traditionally to combat various illnesses due to its high flavonoid contents. The present study was aimed at evaluating the ameliorative effect of co-administration of HS and vitamin E on sub-chronic carbamazepine (CBZ)-induced alterations in semen characteristics. Thirty young male Wistar rats were divided at random into five groups containing 6 rats per groups. Group I and II were administered normal saline and carbamazepine (20 mg /kg), respectively, while group III was treated with CBZ and aqueous extract of Hibiscus Sabdariffa (200 mg/kg); group IV was treated with CBZ and vitamin E (VE) 30 minutes after treatment with CBZ. The regimens were administered orally by gavage once daily for a period of 8 weeks. At the end of the treatment, four animals from each group were randomly selected and sacrificed by jugular fenestration. The result obtained showed that CBZ caused a pronounced reduction in sperm concentration, motility, testicular histological damage, sperm morphological abnormalities, and increased the testicular MDA concentration. In control group, sperm count was 61.50 Â� 1.44 x106/ml, and 49.75 Â� 3.19 x106/ml, 71.25 Â� 7.08 x106/ml, 63.00 Â� 2.67 x106/ml and 89.00 Â� 9.85 x106/ml for CBZ, CBZ + HS, CBZ + VE and CBZ + HS + VE groups respectively. Sperm progressive motility was 61.25 Â� 3.14%, 42.50 Â� 4.78%, 66.25 Â� 6.88%, 67.50 Â� 6.29% and 82.50 Â� 4.78% for the control, CBZ, CBZ + HS, CBZ + VE and CBZ + HS + VE groups respectively, sperm non-progressive motility was 26.25 Â� 2.39%, 30.00 Â� 4.56%, 20.00 Â� 3.53%, 17.50 Â� 2.50%, and 7.50 Â� 1.44% for the control, CBZ, CBZ + HS, CBZ + VE and CBZ + HS + VE groups respectively, while, non-motile sperm cells was 22.50 Â� 4.78%, 27.50 Â� 1.44%, 13.75 Â� 3.75%, 15.00 Â� 5.00%, and 10.00 Â� 3.53% for the control, CBZ, CBZ + HS, CBZ + VE and CBZ + HS + VE groups respectively. Serum testosterone concentration in control group was 6.15 Â� 0.22 μg/ml, and 5.05 Â� 0.06 μg/ml, 4.25 Â� 0.34 μg/ml, 4.70 Â� 0.16 μg/ml, and 5.97 Â� 0.31 μg/ml for CBZ, CBZ + HS, CBZ + VE and CBZ + HS + VE groups respectively. The testicular MDA concentration was 0.05 Â� 0.01 nmoL/mg, 0.17 Â� 0.012 nmoL/mg, 0.04 Â� 0.02 nmoL/mg, 0.06 Â� 0.00 nmoL/mg and 0.02 Â� 0.00 nmoL/mg for the control, CBZ, CBZ + HS, CBZ + VE and CBZ + HS + VE groups respectively. However, HS, VE and their combination, ameliorated the alterations in the semen characteristics and reduced the testicular MDA concentration induced by CBZ. The study concludes that HS, VE and their combination mitigate the alterations in semen characteristics and testicular lipoperoxidation caused by CBZ in adult male Wistar rats.