TITLE:
The Role of Coconut Water on Nicotine-Induced Reproductive Dysfunction in Experimental Male Rat Model
AUTHORS:
Sandhya Vijayam Gopalakrishnan Nair, Thankappan Rajamohan
KEYWORDS:
Rat Sperm, Testosterone, Nicotine, Coconut Water, L-Arginine
JOURNAL NAME:
Food and Nutrition Sciences,
Vol.5 No.12,
June
26,
2014
ABSTRACT: The coconut water
is the most nutritious wholesome beverage in all coconut producing countries.
Folk medicine describes the use of coconut water to reduce toxic effects of
nicotine and alcohol in reproductive function in men, but its direct evidence
is lacking. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of tender and
mature coconut water consumption on nicotine induced changes in sperm quality,
spermatogenic cell density, activity of testicular marker enzymes for spermatogenesis
and testosterone level of male healthy rats. Male Sprague Dawley rats were
treated with tender and mature coconut water intragastrically and nicotine
subcutaneously for 15 days. The findings indicated that the coconut water supplementation
improves epididymal spermatogenic cell density (p ≤ 0.05), sperm motility and
morphology which were altered by nicotine. The activity of acid phosphatase and
alkaline phosphatase was increased (p ≤ 0.05), which indicates that treatment
with coconut water provides significant protection of germinal epithelium from
nicotine toxicity. Coconut water also shows a significant increase (p ≤ 0.05)
in testosterone levels in nicotine treated rats. Coconut water ameliorates the
reproductive toxicity caused by nicotine due to presence on nutrients L-arginine,
ascorbic acid, minerals like calcium and magnesium.