EFFECTS OF TRIBULUS TERRESTRIS ON TESTICULAR DEVELOPMENT OF IMMATURE ALBINO RATS

The present study was designed to investigate the effects of extract of Tribulus terrestris on body weight and testicular development of prepubertal rats. The study was conducted in the Depart- ment of Anatomy, University of Health Sciences, Lahore. Two-week old rats were divided into two groups of 10 pups each (A: control and B: experimental). Group B was given Tribulus Terrestris in an oral dose of 70mg/kg daily for 20 days. Pups were weighed and sacrificed on 34th day post-natally; their testes were removed for gross and microscopic studies using 4 2m thick H E and PAS stained histological sections. Statistical analysis was done using indepen- dent-samples t test. Pups received tribulus terrestris extract showed statistically significant increase in mean body (p 0.05) and paired testes weight (p 0.05) without significant effect on the mean relative tissue body weight index (p 0.05). Histological slides of the testes showed a significant increase in seminiferous tubules containing early spermatids in the treated group when compared to that of control (p 0.05). The mean diameter of seminiferous tubules in the treated group was also noticeably increased (p 0.05). Spermatids of the experimental group were at acrosomal phase of spermogenesis, whereas, those of control group were at Golgi phase, implying thereby that spermatogenesis was present at an advanced stage in the experi- mental as compared to the control group of animals.