The effect of Syzygium cumini stem bark fresh extract on female reproductive system in Wistar rats

In India there is a practice of using plants in traditional medicines from the time immemorial. Among many other problems, infertility is a major problem taunting the modern society. With increasing pollution at all levels and stress factors in the present day situations, infertility is mushrooming like an epidemic and creating havoc for couples and their families causing lot of turmoil in their lives. To overcome the problem of infertility the traditional practitioners are using various plant products to treat infertility one among them is stem bark of Syzygium cumini (jamun). Though it is administered to treat infertility by traditional practitioners, the scientific literature about its effect on the fertility is lacking and less research work is done on this aspect. The female Wistar rats weighing about 190 – 210 grams were used for the study. The oral administration of fresh extract of stem bark was done by utilizing a curved ball-tipped intubation needle affixed to a 2 ml syringe. In the present study treated group showed slight increase in body and uterine weight. The microscopic structure of uterus showed unaltered histo-architecture with respect to myometrial and perimetrial thickness in treated and control groups while the endometrial thickness was found to be more in the treated group. We can conclude from the present study that the fresh extract of stem bark of Syzygium cumini exerted a profertility effect. Further studies are required with Syzygium cumini stem bark to determine the mechanism of action that leads to endometrial thickness increase.