Reproductive, cytological and biochemical toxicity of fenugreek in male Swiss albino mice

Fenugreek was evaluated for its effects on reproductive, cytological and biochemical toxicity in mice. On the basis of evaluated maximum tolerated dose (MTD; 9.77 g/kg), the present doses selected for sub-chronic (90 days) treatment were 153, 305 and 610 mg/kg/day by oral gavage corresponding to 1/64, 1/32 and 1/16, of MTD, respectively. Total sperm count, motility and spermatozoa morphology was screened. Cytological changes in testicular chromosomes and pregnancy rate in untreated females after mating with treated males were estimated. In testicular cells, total proteins, nucleic acids, malondialdehyde (MDA) and non-protein sulfhydryl (NP-SH) and serum hormonal levels were estimated. The fenugreek treatment particularly with higher dose caused significant changes in the percent motility, sperm count, spermatozoa morphology, chromosomal aberrations, rate of pregnancy and pre-implantation loss. Male fertility was decreased in higher treated doses. In testicular cells, nucleic acids and NP-SH were depleted while MDA levels increased. In conclusion, fenugreek administration at higher dose induced toxicity including teratogenic, foetotoxic, reproductive changes and the abnormal shapes of the sperms. In view of the observed oxidant potentials, present study paves a path to further investigate its clinical effects on reproductive system.   Key words: Fenugreek; reproductive toxicity; spermatozoa; sperm count; oxidative stress.