EFFECT OF SALVIA OFFICINALIS DECOCTION ON THE HORMONE PROFILE OF NORMAL AND LETROZOLE TREATED ADULT FEMALE RABBITS

*Maryam M. Bisher, Solomon N. Ijioma, Fatima H. Aghila and Khadija A. Hamed

ABSTRACT

This study evaluated the effect of the Salvia officinalis leaf extract on serum levels of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) in adult female rabbits. Ten adult female rabbits (4-6 months) randomly assigned to two groups of 5 rabbits each were used for the work. For the first group, their levels of reproductive hormones were determined before and after daily oral administration of Salvia officinalis decoction (30 ml) for 28 days before being allowed to stay untreated for a further 28 days to re-measure the levels of the hormones. The levels of FSH and LH of rabbits in the second group were also determined before and after induction of hormonal disturbance with Letrozole (1.0 mg/kg) daily for 21 days. Thereafter, the rabbits were administered Salvia officinalis leaf extract (30 ml) daily for 28 days after which the serum concentrations of the hormones were determined again. Results obtained showed that treatment with Salvia officinalis leaf extract significantly increased the levels of follicle stimulating hormone (1.62±0.27) and luteinizing hormone (1.37±0.20) in group one when compared with basal values of 0.82±0.38 and 0.38±0.24 respectively (p<0.05) and dropped significantly to 1.16±0.19 and 0.79±0.39 respectively following stoppage of treatment. In the induced group, the significantly elevated FSH (1.53±0.16) and LH (1.56±0.43) values due to letrozol administration were also lowered to 0.97±0.16 and 0.96±0.18 respectively following treatment with Salvia officinalis. We therefore conclude that Salvia officinalis decoction may promote fertility in females via enhancement of FSH and LH levels and may reverse hormone changes due to letrozole due to restoration of negative feed-back mechanism.

Keywords: Follicle Stimulating Hormone, Letrozol, Luteinising Hormone, Rabbits, Salvia officinalis.