Effect of the Opopanax hispidus plant's aerial parts extract on mice ovary

Aim: Opopanax hispidus (Friv.) Griseb plant belongs to the Apiaceae family. It is traditionally used for the treatment of hemorrhoids, female infertility, and purification of blood. We aimed to examine the histological changes in the murine ovarian tissue following the administration of a methanolic extract of the aerial parts of the Opopanax hispidus (Friv.) Griseb plant.

Materials and methods: Twelve adult female Swiss-Albino mice were randomly allocated into 2 groups. Control group received no administration. In the Opopanax hispidus group the methanolic extract (200 mg/kg/day) was administered via oral gavage for 5 days. At the end of the experiment right ovarian tissue of each subject was excised. Routine histological processing of tissue samples fixed in 10% formalin were then sectioned at a thickness of 5 µm. The sections were stained with hematoxylin and eosin and examined with a light microscope. The modified method of Cavalieri principle was used in the stereological measurement. The total tissue volume ratio was measured with a point counting grid provided by the Shtereom version 1.5 software package. Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare the groups.The significance level was set at 5%. All statistical analyses were performed using SPSS (ver: 20) software package.

Results: A significant difference was observed with respect to the number of antral follicles (p<0.05). A comparison of ovarian volumes between the groups revealed a significant decrease in the Opopanax hispidus group (p<0.05).

Conclusion: We demonstrated that Opopanax hispidus exerted positive effects on the ovarian tissue and increased the number of antral follicles, probably due to its antioxidant effect.