Vol. 6, Issue 6, Part D (2020)

Abstract
The use of medicinal plants to treat various ailments is fast becoming common place and their possible effects on the various organs of the body have also become a global public health concerns. Several plant materials have been claimed to be efficacious is modulating the activities of the male reproductive system, while some are used as aphrodisiacs, others are employed to regulate fertility. Aspilia africana have been claimed to have the propensity to exert some modulatory effects on the male reproductive system. This study was designed to elucidate the histological changes in the testes and epididymis of adult male wistar rats following administration of varied dosages of aqueous extract of Aspilia africana flowers. Twenty adult male Wistar rats weighing 250- 300g were divided into four groups (A-D) of five rats each. Group A served as control and was given 1ml of distilled water, while groups B, C, D were given 150mg/kg, 200mg/kg and 300mg/kg body weight respectively. Histological differences between selected organs of control and treatment were evaluated. The histological findings revealed a dose dependent increase or widening of the interstitial spaces and mild disruption of the spermatogenic series in the testes of the rats treated with 200 and 300mg of extract per kilogram body weight. The group treated with 300mg of the extract showed more marked disruption of germinal epithelium with shrunken seminiferous tubules. However, the group treated with 150mg/kg body weight of rat maintained the normal structural integrity but the interstitial spaces were evidently wider relative to the control. Studies on the epididymis revealed fairly normal tubules packed with mature spermatozoa, mildly decreased population of sperm cells and moderately decreased population of spermatozoa respectively with an intact epithelial lining across the groups treated with 150, 200 and 300mg of the extract per kilogram body weight of the rats when compared to the control. This shows that A. africana flowers may have a dose dependent deleterious effect on the histology of the testes and epididymis. However, Further study is therefore required to elucidate the mechanism by which the changes were achieved.