The Aqueous Extract of A Mixture of Eremomastax speciosa and Cyathula prostrata (ESCP) Leaves Regularises an Overcrowding-Blocked Estrous Cycle, Enhances Implantation and Improves on Liter Size in Female Rats

Abstract

The people of the Bayang Tribe of Manyu Division of the South-West Region of Cameroon use the leave-aqueous macerations of both Eremomastax speciosa and Cyathula prostrata, either combined or separately, to regularize blocked or altered menstrual cycles in non-menopause women and resolve pregnancy-related complications. The present study was aimed at evaluating the effects of the aqueous extract of a mixture of both plant-leaves (ESCP) on an overcrowding-induced anestrous cycle, implantation and liter size in female albino rats. In part I of the experiment, a total of 32 female rats with blocked estrous cycle as a result of overcrowding, were partitioned into 4 groups of 8 rats each and treated with distilled water (10 ml/kg bw), 36, 72 and 144 mg/kg of the extract, respectively, for a period of 21 days during which vaginal smears were examined daily to assess any change in the estrous cycle. In part II of the expriment, thirty-two 32 normal-cycle female rats were crossed over night with males of proven fertility, treated in the same way as those in part I for 7 days, underwent a laparotomy, then allowed to complete the gestation. The extract unblocked the estrous cycle and induced a return to normal cyclicity. Percentage regulation increased significantly (p < 0,001) from 0% in week 1 of treatment to 62.5% in week 2 in animals receiving both the 72 mg and 144 mg/kg body weight doses. By the 21st day of treatment, animals treated with the 72 mg and 144 mg/kg body weight doses registered 75% regulation, compared to a 12.5% regulation recorded in the control group. The aqueous extract of a mixture of Eremomastax speciosa and Cyathula prostrata (ESCP) possesses a regulatory effect on the estrous cycle of anestrous rats provoked by overcrowding, though the mixture might have anti-implantation properties at higher doses