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ABSTRACT
Ocimum gratissimum leaf, popularly known as scent leaf, is one of the discovered medicinal plants with the potential to serve as an alternative therapy for the treatment of various ailments or as a source of a new drug. The aim of this research was to determine the effect of Ocimum gratissimum leaf extract on fertility in female wistar rats. Twenty four adult female wistar rats were used for the study and these rats were divided randomly into 4 groups (n=6); low dose (LD), medium dose (MD) and high dose (HD) groups which received methanolic extract of Ocimum gratissimum leaf and the control (C) group which received normal feed and water. The animals were allowed to acclimatize for 2 weeks and were weighed weekly. The dose of administration: LD 100mg/kg, MD 300mg/kg, HD 500mg/kg of methanolic extract of Ocimum gratissimum were administered orally via a feeding gavage daily for four weeks. This design lasted for 6weeks. At the end of the experiment, samples of blood, uterus and ovary were collected and analysed post exposure by Accu>Bind ELISA Microwells Estradiol (E2) and Progesterone (P4) Test System and Hematoxylin-eosin staining method respectively. Results of hormonal analysis were expressed as mean ± standard deviation. Analysis was carried out with graph pad statistical software version 8.1 using analysis of variance (ANOVA). The level of significance was considered at P<0.05. Uterus and ovary were stained with hematoxylin and eosin which were viewed on microscope slides and presented at magnification of ×40 and ×100. Results showed that there were significant decreases in LD and HD groups compared with the control and MD group for estrogen levels and a significant increase in MD group compared with control for progesterone levels, though there were no significant differences in LD and HD groups compared with control for progesterone. Histological analysis of the ovarian samples showed increased folliculogenesis and active stromal congestion in the LD group while the MD and HD groups showed decreased folliculogenesis and active stromal congestion when compared to control. Uterine histology showed active stromal congestion and glandular cell epitheliosis for all groups when compared to control with the LD group showing endometrial lining epithelial crowding and cytoplasmic clearing and MD group showing endometrial lining epithelial hyperplasia. This led to the conclusion that Ocimum gratissimum has a contraceptive effect on female fertility by affecting estrogen and progesterone levels and also the microscopic architecture of the uterus and ovary of female wistar rats.
