The effect of Saurauia vulcani Korth. leaves extract on penile corpus cavernosa microstructure and the quality of sperm in alloxan-induced diabetic mice

The effect of Saurauia vulcani K. (pirdot) leaves extract on blood sugar levels, penile corpora cavernous microstructure, and quality of sperm in alloxan-induced diabetic mice have been carried out. Twenty-five healthy and mature male mice of 12 weeks old were divided into five groups in completely randomized design with 5 treatments and 5 replications. The treatments consist of control, alloxan group (alloxan injection: 150 mg/kg bw), three levels of extract groups (alloxan injection plus 150, 200, or 250 mg/kg bw of S. vulcani leaves extract) for 8 weeks. The results showed, alloxan treatment increased blood glucose to the level of diabetes, but treatment with S. vulcani leaves extracts reduced the glucose to normal. In alloxan-induced diabetic mice, area of corpus cavernosa decreased significantly (p <0.05), and again S. vulcani leaves extract decreased corpus cavernosa area to normal. The diameter of helicine artery follows the same trend. In sperm parameter assessment, sperm count in alloxan-induced diabetic mice decreased to 197 × 105, and in extract groups the sperm count were back to normal only in the highest dosage (338 × 105). There were no significant different in sperm quality (motility, viability, and normal percentage). In general, the result confirmed that the antihyperglycemic effect of S. vulcani leaves extract, recommended its potency in penile contractile tissue improvement in diabetes, nevertheless it seems to have no effect on sperm quality.