OBJECTIVES

Male infertility has been associated with oxidative stress-induced and/or microbial induced in some men. The use of medicinal plants to overcome oxidative stress-induced infertility cannot be over emphasized. Hence, the aim of this research was to isolate the antilipid peroxidation (an index of usage for treating oxidative stress-induced male infertility) bioactive principle from using bioactivity-guided isolation.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

-Hexane fraction from the crude ethanol extract obtained by Soxhlet extraction of aerial parts (without fruit) of bitter melon, , was assessed for lipid peroxidation, followed by bioactivity-guided isolation of bioactive principles using lipid peroxidation as an index of aphrodisiac and male fertility enhancer.

RESULTS

Fractionation of the active -hexane fraction using vacuum liquid chromatography (VLC) gave five pooled fractions on the basis of their thin layer chromatography (TLC) characteristics (-hexane: EtOAc, 2:3, sulphuric acid spray). activity of the most active VLC fraction C was less than that of the positive control, vitamin E. Further fractionation of VLC-C by open column chromatography on silica gel led to the isolation of a compound which was purified by preparative-TLC. The purified compound, 10 mg/mL (R 0.54, TLC silica gel, -hexane: ethyl acetate; 2:3) was equipotent with vitamin E (25 mg/mL) in reducing peroxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids . Structural elucidation by NMR (H, C) and mean mass spectroscopy confirmed the identity of the new bioactive compound as 13, 14-epoxyoleanan-3-ol-acetate.

CONCLUSION

This study scientifically validates the traditional claim of as an aphrodisiac or male fertility enhancer and suggests that 13, 14-epoxyoleanan-3-ol-acetate might be responsible for the observed activity.