Effect of Contragestative Dose of Aqueous Extract of Curcuma Longa Rhizome on Uterine Biochemical Milieu of Female Rats

The use of natural products as fertility regulating agent especially among woman have been known since times immemorial and are still practiced in rural areas. In the present study, an attempt has been made to analyze the possible modulatory influence of aqueous extract of Curcuma longa rhizome on biochemical constituents (viz. glycogen, sialic acid, cholesterol, acid phosphatase and alkaline phosphatase) of uterus which may play an important role in implantation and foetal development. Post-coital administration of contragestative (pregnancy interceptory) dose (500mg/kg body weight/day) of aqueous extract of rhizome of Curcuma longa from day 1-5 post-coitum (pc) resulted in a statistically highly significant decline (p<0.001) in the acid phosphatase activity, a statistically significant decline (p< 0.01) in glycogen content and a statistically non-significant decline in alkaline phosphatase activity and sialic acid concentration when compared with control pregnant rats while the cholesterol concentration remained significantly unchanged, in comparison to the controls on day 15 pc. Therefore, it can be suggested that the changes in the biochemical constituents of uterus may be responsible, atleast partly, for the anticonceptive/antiimplantational effect of aqueous extract of Curcuma longa rhizome in the treated female rats.