A proton NMR study of the effect of Mucuna pruriens on seminal plasma metabolites of infertile males

• Published in: Journal of pharmaceutical and biomedical analysis Vol. 55; no. 5; pp. 1060 - 1066
• Main Authors: Gupta, Ashish, Mahdi, Abbas Ali, Ahmad, Mohammad Kaleem, Shukla, Kamla Kant, Bansal, Navneeta, Jaiswer, Shyam Pyari, Shankhwar, Satya Narain
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 15.07.2011; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adult; alanine; Analysis; Analytical, structural and metabolic biochemistry; Asthenozoospermia - drug therapy; biochemical pathways; Biological and medical sciences; blood serum; Case-Control Studies; choline; citrates; energy metabolism; enzyme activity; follicle-stimulating hormone; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General pharmacology; glutamine; histidine; Humans; Infertility; Infertility, Male - therapy; laboratory techniques; luteinizing hormone; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy - methods; Male; males; Medical sciences; men; metabolites; Middle Aged; Models, Statistical; Mucuna - metabolism; Mucuna pruriens; NMR spectroscopy; nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy; Oligospermia - drug therapy; patients; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; phenylalanine; Plant Extracts - analysis; Plant Extracts - pharmacology; Propionates - analysis; Protons; seeds; Semen - drug effects; Semen - metabolism; Seminal plasma; sperm concentration; Sperm Motility - drug effects; therapeutics; Trimethylsilyl Compounds - analysis; tyrosine; uridine; Asia; India; TSP; Mucuna pruriens; Infertility; CZ; AZ; OZ; Seminal plasma; NZ; NMR spectroscopy; Pharmacognosy; Semen; Metabolite; Male; NMR spectrometry; Sterility; Medicinal plant; Leguminosae; Folk medicine; Dicotyledones; Angiospermae; Plant origin; Spermatophyta; Fodder crop
• ISSN: 0731-7085; 1873-264X; 1873-264X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpba.2011.03.010

The objective of this study was to employ proton nuclear magnetic resonance ( 1H NMR) spectroscopy to evaluate the impact of Mucuna pruriens seeds on the metabolic profile of seminal plasma of infertile patients. A total of 180 infertile patients were administered M. pruriens seed powder for a period of three months. Age-matched healthy men comprised the control ( n = 50) group in the study. Lactate, alanine, choline, citrate, glycerophosphocholine (GPC), glutamine, tyrosine, histidine, phenylalanine, and uridine were measured in seminal plasma by 1H NMR spectroscopy. To evaluate the degree of infertility and extent of hormonal imbalance induced by this milieu, separate sperm concentration, motility, lipid peroxide in seminal plasma and LH, FSH, T, and PRL hormone concentration in serum were measured using standard laboratory methods and RIA, respectively, in the same subjects. M. pruriens therapy rectifies the perturbed alanine, citrate, GPC, histidine and phenylalanine content in seminal plasma and improves the semen quality of post-treated infertile men with compared to pre-treated. Concomitantly, clinical variables in seminal plasma and blood serum were also improved over post therapy in infertile men. On the basis of these observations, it may be proposed that M. pruriens seed powder not only reactivates the enzymatic activity of metabolic pathways and energy metabolism but also rejuvenates the harmonic balance of male reproductive hormones in infertile men. These findings open more opportunities for infertility treatment and management by improving semen quality.