This
review attempts to collate existing data and provide the perspectives for
future studies on the effects of
plants on the
male gonads. For many of these
medicinal plants such as
Lepidium meyenii, Rupus coreanus,
Tribulus terrestres,
Panax ginseng,
Petasites japonicas,
Apium graveolens,
Eurycoma longifólia, Pedalium murex,
Corchorus depressus, Mucuna pruriens,
Astragalus membranaceus,
Nigella sativa,
Crataegus monogyna,
Fagara tessmannii, Phaleria macrocarpa, Anacyclus
pyrethrum,
Cynomorium songaricum and
Morinda officinalis, the mechanism of actions of their active principles and
crude extracts has been shown in both
laboratory animals,
in vitro, and
human studies, and includes their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory,
spermatogenesis-inducing, aphrodisiac,
smooth muscle relaxing and androgenic properties. Several active chemical leads including
glucosinolates,
anthocyanins, protodioscin,
ginsenosides,
sesquiterpenes, phyto-oestrogens,
quassinoids,
diosgenin, thymoquinone,
proanthocyanidins and bajijiasu isolated from these
plants are known to have target effects on the
testis, but efforts have been limited in their application at the clinical level. There still appear to be many more extracts of
medicinal plants that have not been characterised to determine the
phytochemicals unique to them that have target effects on the
gonads. Further, collaborative efforts at isolating pro-drug candidates from
medicinal plants for studies at the molecular, cellular and clinical level towards elucidating their mechanisms of action on the
testes are therefore warranted in the
light of the current
male fertility crisis.