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Black-Musli Extract Boosts Testosterone in Rats, Study Suggests
Cepham Inc. (Piscataway, NJ) has shared new, soon-to-be-published study results that suggest its black-musli extract (Curculigo orchioides), BlaMus, may help boost testosterone levels in rats.
The study included 24 male Wistar rats that weighed 200–230 g at baseline and were housed in optimal laboratory conditions. For 28 days, the rats were randomized to one of four treatment groups, receiving oral administrations of BlaMus of either 0 mg/kg of body weight, 10 mg/kg of body weight, 25 mg/kg of body weight, or 50 mg/kg of body weight. Researchers monitored rat body weight, free testosterone levels in serum, serum total testosterone levels, liver function based on SGOT and SGPT levels, and kidney function based on serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) levels.
While no marked elevation in serum free testosterone levels was found in the 10-mg or 25-mg BlaMus groups, the 50-mg group showed a significant increase in serum free testosterone levels after 28 days of supplementation, Cepham reports. Serum total testosterone levels, on the other hand, did not show significant increases in any of the studied groups.
Another positive sign came from histopathological analyses, including assessments of the rat seminiferous tubules, spermatogenesis, sperm-cell morphology, Leydig cells, and Sertoli cells, which revealed BlaMus dose–dependent improvements in the structural integrity of these features, according to Cepham.
“These data demonstrated that BlaMus may serve as a safe and novel natural testosterone booster, and provide broad-spectrum applications in sports nutrition, muscle building, and exercise pathophysiology,” researchers concluded. The study also found there were no significant changes observed for serum SGOT, SGPY, BUN, or creatinine kinase levels in any treatment group, so the results also support the safety of BlaMus.
Debasis Bagchi, PhD, chief scientific author for Cepham and one author of the study, told Nutritional Outlook that the study results will be presented at the upcoming Experimental Biology 2017 meeting in Chicago, and Cepham plans to submit the study manuscript for peer-reviewed publication this April.
Source: Nutritional Outlook Magazine