the effect of water-alcholic extracted gum of ferula asafoetida on body and testes weight, testosterone and spermatogenesis in adult male wistar rat

ferula asafoetida contains coumarins and sesquiterpens compounds that have been traditionally used to treat diseases such as nervous disorders, asthma, gastrointestinal disease and epilepsy. sulfur-containing compounds of asafoetida act as antioxidants. this study aimed to investigate the effect of four levels of water-alcoholic extract of asafoetida on reproductive performance of male wistar rats. thirty two rats were randomly divided into four groups of eight rats. treatments include control (0) and ip injection of 75, 150 and 300 mg/kg body weight of asafoetida extract for 14 days. at the end of experiment, blood samples were taken from heart apex to assess the testosterone hormone. right testis was removed to study the spermatogenesis activity. the analysis of results indicated that no significant differences between weight of testicles of the experiments rats. the thicknesses of seminiferous layers decreased by increasing the extract doses. leydig and sertoli cells numbers declined following injection of 150 and 300 mg/kg extract receiving groups. the blood testosterone decreased significantly with injection of asafoetida extract in comparison with control group. the results indicated that injecting of 300 mg/kg of asafoetida extract could damage the testis tissue and reduction of spermatogenesis.