henna, an antimicrobial herbal medicine with less negative effect on spermatogonial stem cell culture

background herbal extracts have recently received the greatest attention in the path of finding naturally occurring chemicals with antibacterial and therapeutic value; however, each type of herbal remedy may have its own side effects. objectives the aim of the current experiment was to study the antibacterial effect of myrtle, parsley, mint, henna and chamomile extracts on escherichia coli and their effects on colony formation and survival of spermatogonial stem cells (sscs). materials and methods spermatogonial stem cells were isolated by two-time enzymatic digestion from slaughterhouse origin ovine testis and plant extraction by deionized water. comparisons between different treatments were performed using analysis of variance (anova) followed by duncan’s multiple range tests. results the results showed that there was no significant difference between mint, henna and penicillin, on inhibition of escherichia coli growth, however parsley, myrtle and chamomile were significantly different from penicillin (p < 0.05). the formation of ssc colonies was not affected by different herbal medicines. myrtle and chamomile resulted in death of ssc colonies compared with the control, and the survival of spermatogonial and sertoli cells were significantly affected by myrtle, mint, chamomile and parsley (p < 0.05). conclusions the results of these experiments provide evidence that henna by antibacterial activity had no detrimental affect on ssc and sertoli cells and is a good candidate for substitution of antibiotics.