the effect of hydro-alcohol extract of trigonella foenum- graceum l. on reproductive system in balb/c

background & aim: fenugreek (trigonella foenum- graceum l.) is a medicinal and edible plant in the family fabaceae. the aim of this study was the effect of hydro-alcohol extract of fenugreek seed on reproductive system of female balb/c mice. experimental: the animals divided to five groups of ten members: control group, placebo and three experimental groups. at first all animals synchronized. the control group received no drugs, while placebo group received physiologic serum. the three experimental groups received i.p injection of 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg/2days extract for 20 days. after 10 injections, blood samples were taken from all groups, hormonal measurement, including fsh, lh, progesterone and estradiol were performed by ria technique. the results are analyzed to use of analysis of unilaterally variance and duncan’s test by spss version11.5 program. then these groups compared with control group. ovaries were sectioned and observed by light microscope. results & discussion: the data presented in this study showed significant decrease in the level of lh and fsh, also significant increase the level of estradiol in the whole experimental groups, while the level of progesterone only increased in the experimental groups. the results of histological studies of sections showed significant decrease in the folliculogenesis in the three experimental groups. also significant increase the number of corpus luteum in experimental groups. the degeneration of ovary was observed in experimental group (200 mg/kg/2days extract). industrial and practical recommendations: according to the results of folliculogenesis the ovary tissue in high dosage that indicates anti-fertility effect in female mice.