The increasing rate of unexplained infertility poses a great problem to medical scientists. Cordia millenii is used by traditional medical practitioners to treat infertility in ethno medicine practice in Nigeria. Cisplatin, a chemotherapeutic agent induces infertility as side effect. Plant samples extracted with 70 % ethanol (w/v), dried extract subjected to phytochemical and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. Twenty-four female albino rats ( 95 kg – 140 kg) randomly divided into 5 groups. Group 1 the control, contained five rats, group 2 six rats, groups 3 to 5 had four rats each. Group 2 administered intraperitoneal dose of Cisplatin of 5 mg kg-1 body weight. Groups 3 and 4 given Cordia millenii extract at 100 mg kg-1 , 200 mg kg-1 body weight along with Cisplatin (5 mg kg-1 i.p), group 5 received only Cordia millenii extract 100 mg kg-1 body weight daily for fourteen days, then rats were sacrificed, ovaries excised and blood collected. Biochemical studies to determine superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), Reduced Glutathione , Lipid Peroxidation and Hormonal Assay were carried out. Statistical package for Social Science (SPSS) software version 23 was used for analysis. All data presented as mean ± SEM. with p < 0.05.
Flavonoid and phenol had an occurrence of 60.7% and 53.9% respectively. GC-MS analysis showed phytol and vitamin E as most abundant compounds. Estrogen level decreased from 78.0 nmol/ L to 57.7 nmol/ L in group 5. After treatment significant increase p < 0.05 in SOD and CAT in extract group, lipid peroxidation reduced significantly p < 0.05 were observed. The antioxidant properties of Cordia millenii may have modulated the effects of Cisplatin but not enough to overwhelm the Cisplatin damage. The results contradict the claim by traditional practitioners that Cordia millenii ameliorates female infertility.
Keywords: Phytochemical studies, GC-MS, Cordia millenii, Anti- oxidant properties.