Contraceptive and Abortificent Effects of Aqueous Crude Extract of Sclerotia

Abstract

Mushrooms have been used in many folk medicine traditions to treat a
wide range of ailments including infertility. Researchers have
demonstrated a broad array of therapeutically significant compounds in
mushrooms species which are currently believed to be in use in
mainstream medicine. In the south-south region of Nigeria there have
been reports from pregnant women who used the sclerotia of Pleurotus
tuberregium during early pregnancy and discovered that it caused
abortion, thus the need to scientifically study the effect of sclerotia of P.
tuberregium on pregnant albino wistar rats. The effect of the aqueous
crude extract of P. tuberregium on some fertility parameters was
evaluated on pregnant female albino wistar rats to determine the safety
of the sclerotia of P. tuberregium in pregnancy. In the course of the
experiment acute toxicity study of the extract was first carried out on
female albino mice and doses were selected. The aqueous crude extract
of P. tuberregium was administered to two groups of twenty (20) female
rats each. The first group of rats was mated and after seven days of
pregnancy the rats were administered oral doses of 100, 500, and 1000
mg/kg per day for 7 days after which they were sacrificed on the 14th day
of pregnancy. The second group of rats was mated and administered oral
doses of 100, 500, and 1000 mg/kg per day for 21 days and sacrificed.
The results revealed that the extract was void of the causing death to any
of the mice. The reproductive parameters (progesterone significantly
increased while oestrogen, follicle stimulating hormones and luteinizing
hormones) significantly decreased in tested animals within the treated
period compared to the control. The pregnancy outcome results revealed
there was no foetus in the uterus of the supposed pregnant rats compared
with the control. The results from this experiment revealed that the
extract has contraceptive and abortificent effects. This study therefore
suggests that the sclerotia of P. tuberregium is useful as a contraceptive
drug and can be recommended for medical use by women that are not
desirous to have children