Contraceptive evaluation and toxicological study of aqueous extract of theseeds of Carica papaya in male rabbits

The contraceptive evaluation and toxicological effects of the aqueous extra ct of the seeds of Carica papaya in adult male rabbits have been reported. Thirty adult male rabbits were divided into five groups of six animals each ; Group I, control; Groups II-V were administered orally with aqueous extra ct of the seeds of C. papaya at doses of 20, 50, 75 and 100 mg/kg per day f or 150 days, respectively. The body weight, reproductive organs weight, sem en analysis, semen biochemistry, toxicological profiles and the fertility s tatus have been recorded. The aqueous extract failed to exhibit contracepti ve effects at any of the dose regimens tested, contrary to the observations made in the previous studies. Unaltered toxicological profiles indicated t hat the drug was free of side effects. The results suggest that the failure of contraceptive effects may be due to species specificity, relative resis tance of the animals to the drug or lack of potency of the extract due to f actors generally affect biological activity of the plant preparations. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.