Anti-fertility Studies of Hydroalcoholic Rhizome Extract of Trillium Govanianum in Female Rats

Abstract

Trillium govanianum commonly known as Nag chhatri is a high-value medicinal plant, of the family Trilliaceae, found at Himalayan ranges from Pakistan to Bhutan at an altitude of 2400-3500 m. The rhizome is the desired material of trade containing the medicinal compound trillarin which on hydrolysis yield diosgenin, used in the preparation of steroidal and sex hormones. The plant used in this study is basically meant to facilitate childbirth, and to treat other female problems by the women of many Native American tribes in its folkloric value. But no report is so far available on its direct usage for any herbal formulation.The plant crude extract has reported to have anti-cancerous properties along with potential for contraception. So present study validates the anti-fertility potential of herbal plant extract of Trillium govanianum in female Wistar rats and carried out histopathological studies to see the effect at varying tissue levels. This study involves phytochemical screening and anti-fertility studies of hydroalcoholic rhizome extract of Trillium govanianum on female rats. We found that the extract showed significant antiimplantation activities at 125 and 250 mg/kg doses respectively as no implants were observed in the rats administered with the extract. The estrogenic/anti-estrogenic studies concluded that the extract treatment is having a strong estrogenic effect but did not possess any anti-estrogenic effect which might be responsible for the anti-fertility effect of this plant.