Sexual dysfunction in rats ten weeks after the onset of diabetes: Evidences of the androgenic effects of Dracaena arborea extracts

Abstract

Aim: Sexual dysfunction is an important consequence of diabetes. Recently, several studies have demonstrated that Dracaena arborea (D. arborea) extracts had alleviating effects against two and four weeks diabetes-induced sexual complications in rats, but no data has confirmed these effects in long-term diabetic rats. This study was therefore undertaken to assess the androgenic effects of D. arborea extracts in rats, after ten weeks of diabetes. Methodology: Diabetes was induced in rats using streptozotocine (50 mg/kg, i.p). Besides 6 normal rats treated with distilled water (10 mL/kg, control group), 30 diabetic rats divided into five groups of six rats each were administered by gavage for 4 weeks with 10 ml/kg of distilled water (10 ml/kg, diabetic control/STZ group), 1.44 mg/kg of Sildenafil citrate, 20 mg/kg of Trimethylamine-N- oxide (TMAO), 500 mg/kg of aqueous and 100 mg/kg of ethanol extracts of D. arborea respectively. In this study, blood glucose level, body mass, relative sexual organs masses, sexual behavior and fertility parameters, total proteins levels, SOD and CAT activities, serum and testicular testosterone concentration as well as testes and epididymis histology were determined. Results: Compared to the control rats, persistent hyperglycemia, sexual parameters and sexual organs impairments were recorded in rats after ten weeks of diabetes. In comparison to the diabetic control rats, D. arborea extracts, with no anti-hyperglycemic effects has induced significant improvements in copulatory and fertility parameters, total proteins and testosterone levels in the serum, epididymis and testes, and on testes and epididymis structures. Conclusion: These results could be accredited to the androgenic assets of chemical constituents present in D. arborea extracts. These outcomes could be advantageous for the management of patients under long-term diabetes-induced sexual complications.