Indian Wood Nettle as a Natural Sexual Tonic: A Preclinical Study on Libido and Copulatory Behavior in an Animal Model

The renowned androgenic performance of Indian wood nettle (Laportea gestures), popularly known as Ile-nkita in Igbo, which are used by Nigerian herbalists, were examined using forty (40) male Wistar rats weighing 151.8–199.5g, which were split into four (1-4) groups of ten rats each. While groups 2, 3, and 4 received 40, 80, and 160 mg/kg of the extract, respectively, group 1 served as the control. Following their pairing with a receptive female (1:1), the male rats' mating behaviours were observed. According to the findings, the extract at 40, 80, and 160 mg/kg considerably reduced the latencies of mount and intromission (P<0.05) while increasing the frequency of mount and intromission. Additionally, ejaculation frequency was positively correlated with ejaculation latency (P<0.05). The extract decreased the prolactin, post-ejaculatory interval, and percentage of slow, aberrant, and dead sperm in the Wistar rats compared to the control. Consequently, this study confirms the aphrodisiac qualities of Indian wood nettle in traditional Nigerian medicine.