Department of Life Science and Bioinformatics, Assam University, Silchar, Assam 788011, India.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2013 Aug 26;149(1):328-34. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2013.06.044. Epub 2013 Jul 9.
Ricinus communis L. (Rc), of Euphorbiaceae family is a widespread plant in tropical regions and it is used in traditional medicines as an antifertility agent in India and different parts of the world.
The aim of the present study is to revalidate the ethnobotanical knowledge by evaluating the activity of only crude stem bark extracts of Rc. In this study, effects of extracts on male contraceptive efficacy were experimented in vitro with human sperm sample. The work is based on primordial and contemporary therapeutic uses of this plant.
In this study, dose of petroleum ether extract, ethyl acetate extract, acetone extract and lyophilised aqueous extract of Rc were added to fresh human semen in 1:1 volumetric ratio. As the aqueous extract showed a promising result in 1:1 ratio, therefore, the Hypo-osmotic swelling test (HOS), Nuclear chromatin decondensation test (NCD) and Acrosomal status and function test (AFT) were also carried out with the aqueous extract of Rc.
The sperm immobilisation effects of the extract appeared immediately in a dose-dependent manner when the samples were treated with four different extracts of this plant. At a concentration of 100mg/mL, 100% (p<0.001 and p<0.05) sperms lost their progressive motility. At a concentration of 300 mg/mL, 100% (p<0.001 and p<0.05) became immotile when treated with aqueous extract. There was 88% (p<0.001 and p<0.05) morphological deformities in sperm sample due the effect of aqueous extract when they were tested for HOS and 91% (p<0.05) sperms behaved against NCD as compared to control group. Also there was a distinct decline (p<0.05) in AFT with increase in dosage concentration.
The findings of the study revealed that aqueous stem bark extract of the plant showed dose dependent loss of sperm motility by influencing the morphological deformation, blockage in nuclear envelope and distinct declination in acrosomal status of spermatozoa. This research, thus, opens up scope for future exploration of bark of the plant as commercial source of new male contraceptive.
大戟科植物蓖麻（Rc）在热带地区广泛分布，在印度和世界其他地区被用作传统医学中的抗生育剂。
本研究旨在通过评估仅粗茎皮提取物的活性来重新验证其民族植物学知识。在这项研究中，我们用人类精子样本在体外实验了提取物对男性避孕药效的影响。这项工作基于该植物的原始和当代治疗用途。
在这项研究中，我们将石油醚提取物、乙酸乙酯提取物、丙酮提取物和冻干水提物的剂量加入到新鲜的人类精液中，按 1:1 的体积比加入。由于水提取物在 1:1 比例下显示出有希望的结果，因此还进行了低渗肿胀试验（HOS）、核染色质解凝聚试验（NCD）和顶体状态和功能试验（AFT）。
当用四种不同的植物提取物处理样本时，提取物的精子固定效果立即呈剂量依赖性出现。在 100mg/mL 的浓度下，100%（p<0.001 和 p<0.05）的精子失去了它们的渐进运动能力。在 300mg/mL 的浓度下，当用含水提取物处理时，100%（p<0.001 和 p<0.05）的精子变得不动。在 HOS 测试中，由于含水提取物的作用，精子样本中的形态畸形率为 88%（p<0.001 和 p<0.05），与对照组相比，91%（p<0.05）的精子对 NCD 有反应。随着剂量浓度的增加，AFT 也明显下降（p<0.05）。
研究结果表明，植物的水提茎皮提取物通过影响精子形态变形、核包膜阻塞和顶体状态明显下降，显示出剂量依赖性的精子运动能力丧失。因此，这项研究为未来探索该植物的树皮作为新型男性避孕药的商业来源开辟了新的前景。
