Reproductive impact of Mishenland Polyherbal Mixture on steroid hormone-induced gonadotoxic effects in male Wistar rats

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Testosterone and its analogs have been used for anabolic and androgenic purposes for several decades. Initially restricted to professional bodybuilders, these substances have become increasingly popular among recreational athletes. The Mishenland polyherbal mixture (MPM) is a herbal preparation used locally for managing benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and is claimed to reverse infertility of unknown cause in men. The aim of study was to investigate ability of MPM to mitigate the gonadotoxic effects of prolonged steroid hormone exposures in the adult male Wistar rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study used 25 adult male albino rats of age 9 weeks. The animals were divided into five groups of five rats each. After a two-week acclimatization period, all animals except the normal control group received combination doses of 4 mg/kg body weight (bw) testosterone (T) and 0.8 mg/kg bw estradiol (E2) subcutaneously on alternate days for 6 weeks. From the seventh week, experimental groups received 1 ml/kg, 2 ml/kg, and 4 ml/kg bw of MPM, while the control group received 2 ml/kg bw of distilled water. After 4 weeks of treatment, all animals were sacrificed, and their reproductive organs were removed for histological processing (H&E stain). RESULTS: The testes showed evidence of spermatogenic arrest with partial recovery of the spermatogonia stem cells following MPM treatment. The medium dose-2ml/kg herbal treatment group exhibited greater recovery compared to the control. Priapism persisted in hormone-induced hypogonadal control animals. The induced hypogonadic group (IHPG) had the highest mean packed cell volume (PCV), followed by the normal dose MPM group. CONCLUSION: MPM demonstrated a mild ability to restore impaired reproductive function in hormone induced gonadotoxic animals and prevented priapism development observed in untreated hormone-exposed animals.