The Effect of Camphor on Sex Hormones Levels in Rats

Document Type : Short Communication

Authors

1 Cellular and Molecular Biology Research Center (CMBRC), Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran

2 Fatemeh Zahra Fertility and Infertility Reproductive Health Research Center, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran

3 Cellular and Molecular Biology Research Center (CMBRC), Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran;Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran

4 Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran

5 4Department of Anatomy, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran

Abstract

In some traditional therapies, it has been claimed that camphor (a crystalline ketone obtained from cinnamomum camphora) would be a suppressor of sexual behaviors and sex hormones. This study evaluated the effects of camphor on sex hormones, like luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and testosterone. In this experimental study, 56 male rats were divided into 5 groups, including control (n=12), sham (n=11) and three treatment groups (n=11) in three different doses. The sham groups received daily intra peritoneal (IP) injections of the vehicle (ethanol 10%) for 30 days. Three treatment groups received different daily IP injections of the camphor (1, 2 and 5 mg/Kg) for 30 days and the control groups didn’t received anything. Serums were used for assaying LH, FSH and testosterone. The level of LH significantly increased in all doses of camphor among the treatment groups as compared to the control (p < 0.05), but camphor in doses 2 and 5 mg/Kg significantly reduced the FSH level as compared to control group (p < 0.05). No significant changes were seen in testosterone levels. Camphor increased level of LH, decreased level of FSH, whereas it failed to change level of testosterone. The claim of inhibitory effect of camphor on sexual activity could not be confirmed by this study. More investigations in this field are suggested.

Keywords

Cell Journal (Yakhteh)
Volume 16, Issue 2
May 2014
Pages 231-234

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