Abstract
Background: Date Palm Pollen (DPP) is suggested to increase the concentration of testosterone, follicle stimulating hormone, and luteinizing hormone in rats.
Aim: To examine its effect on body weight and weight of testosterone dependent sex organs using prepubertal rats as an experimental model with a hope that the results of this study may pave the way for treating male hypogonadism and delayed puberty.
Methods: 4-day old rats were randomly divided into four groups (Control I, Experimental I, Control II, and Experimental II). Experimental groups I and II were given DPP suspension, in a single oral dose of 120mg/kg daily for 18 and 35 days respectively.
Results: At the end of the experiment pups were weighed and sacrificed on day 22nd and 39th post-natally; their testes, liver, ventral prostate and seminal vesicles were removed and weighed. There was no statistically significant difference in the variables of Control and Experimental groups I. Pups who received DPP for 35 days showed statistically significant increase in mean body weight, seminal vesicle, ventral prostate and paired testes weight also significantly increased from 89.25 +/- 2.00g, 0.0354 +/- 0.0039g, 0.0539 +/- 0.0035g and 0.75 +/- 0.01g in the Control group II respectively to 98.91 +/- 6.28g, 0.0417 +/- 0.0057g, 0.0611 +/- 0.0055g and 0.85 +/- 0.08g in Experimental Group II. There was no significant effect on the mean relative tissue body weight indices of both the groups except for that of RTWI (Liver) which decreased implying no change in the weight of liver in group II but increased body weight.
Conclusion: Our data regarding the effects of Date Palm Pollen on reproductive organs implied that it had a complex stimulating effect on size of the organs, producing their precocious development suggestive of its androgenic activity.