In/ex copula ejaculatory activities of aqueous and methanolic extracts of Aframomum melegueta (Zingiberaceae) in sexually experienced male rat.

This study was undertaken to evaluate the effects of Aframomum melegueta on male rat ejaculation using in/ex copula techniques. For the in copula experiment, rats were orally treated with aqueous or methanolic extract (20 and 100 mg/kg) of A. melegueta for 14 days. Each rat was mated with a primed receptive female on days 0, 7 and 14 of treatment, and the ejaculatory latency and post-ejaculatory interval were measured. In the ex copula experiment, the electromyography of the bulbospongiosus muscles and intraseminal pressure were recorded in spinal rats after mechanical (urethral and penile) and pharmacological stimulations (intravenous injection of dopamine (5 mg/kg) and, aqueous or methanolic extract of A. melegueta, 2.5; 5; 10 and 20 mg/kg). Furthermore, the effect of dopamine on fictive ejaculation was monitored in rats orally pre-treated with A. melegueta extracts (20 and 100 mg/kg) for 7 or 14 days. Treatment with the aqueous or methanolic extract of A. melegueta significantly decreased the ejaculatory latency (p < .05) and post-ejaculatory interval (p < .01) after 14 days. In spinal rats, mechanical or pharmacological stimulations triggered fictive ejaculation. In animals orally pre-treated with A. melegueta extracts, the pro-ejaculatory effect of dopamine was more expressed. Present findings show that A. melegueta possesses pro-ejaculatory effects.

Effects of Dracaena arborea (Dracaenaceae) on sexual dysfunction in 4 weeks hyperglycemic male rats.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of Dracaena arborea (D. arborea) on the sexual behavior parameters in experienced type-1 diabetic rats. METHODS: Aqueous and ethanol (100 and 500 mg/kg respectively) extracts of dried root barks of D. arborea, sildenafil citrate (1.44 mg/kg), trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO, 20 mg/kg) and distilled water (10 mL/kg) were orally administered to 4 weeks streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Mount latency and frequency (ML, MF), intromission latency and frequency (IL, IF) and post-ejaculatory interval (PEI) were measured by ejaculatory series during 90 min once a week for 4 weeks. Glycemia was determined at the beginning and at the end of the treatment. RESULTS: D. arborea did not show any major antihyperglycemic effects. Compared to the control group, a significant (P<0.05-0.001) increase in MF and IF was noticed in rats treated with sildenafil citrate (89.71% and 90.07% respectively), aqueous (500 mg/kg, 88.08% and 88.74% respectively) and ethanol (100 mg/kg; 89.53% and 89.17 respectively) extracts of D. arborea after two weeks (series 1) of treatment. ML, IL and PEI were significantly (P<0.05-0.001) decreased after 4 weeks of daily treatment [sildenafil citrate (96.31, 96.31% and 34.98%), and D. arborea aqueous 500 mg/kg (94.33, 94.33% and 66.60%) and ethanol extracts 100 mg/kg (96.98, 97.08% and 64.26%)]. CONCLUSIONS: These aphrodisiac potentials of D. arborea in experienced diabetic rats could be due to the antioxidant and androgenic properties of phenols, flavonoids, saponins and sterols revealed in the plant extracts.