EFFECTS OF ETHANOLIC EXTRACT OF TARAXACUM OFFICINALE LEAVES ON SOME PHYSIOLOGICAL AND REPRODUCTIVE PARAMETERS OF LOCAL ADULT MALE RABBITS

Abstract

The twenty adult local male rabbits of mean body weight of 1 kgm and mean age of 6 months were randomly allocated into two groups of ten animals, each group was fed during the period of experiment on a standard diet . The first group was regarded as control and received 3ml of physiological saline orally for a month. The second group was drenched ethanolic extract of Taraxacum officinale (500 mg/kg/day) for one month . Those male were joined with females after treatment for a week to study the effect on fertility and reproductive efficiency. The following results were obtained: The ethanolic extract of Taraxacum officinale caused highly significant increase (p<0.01) in AST and significant decrease (P<0.05) in ALT of intact treated male rabbits.The ethanolic extract has a significant decrease in the testicular weight, seminiferous tubules diameter and decrease in sperm count.The prolonged drenching of T.officinale extract caused infertility. Prolonged drenching of T.officinale extract showed clear histological changes on all organs studied (pituitary,thyroid glands and testes) as compared with control