2005, Volume 11 No. 1

ARTICLE 5

Serum Testosterone Levels and Body Weight Gain of Male Rabbits Fed with Morinda citrifolia Fruit Juice

Sukardi S¹, Yaakub H², Ganabadi S³ and Poon MS^1
1Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, ²Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, ³Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Malaysia

ABSTRACT
Morinda citrifolia, popularly known as noni, has been reported to possess antidiabetic, antiseptic and antibiotic properties, as well as hypotensive and anticoagulant activities. M. citrifolia was also reported to possess immunomodulation characteristics, anticancer activity and may also be useful as an aphrodisiac. The effects of Morinda citrifolia fruit juice on serum testosterone concentration and body weight of twelve New Zealand White male rabbits were studied for 8 weeks. Three groups of rabbits (n = 3 each) were treated orally with dosages of 200 mg/kg, 400 mg/kg and 800 mg/kg of the fruit juice respectively. Another group of rabbits (n = 3) served as control. Body weights of rabbits were measured daily. Serum testosterone levels were determined every fifth day using enzyme immunoassay method. The results obtained showed that in all groups, serum testosterone level decreased as compared to the baseline values, but the changes were not statistically significant. Body weight gain was also not significantly different among all treatment groups. There was a negative association (r = - 0.365) between serum testosterone level and body weight of rabbits in the control group. However, the changes in serum testosterone level were not significantly correlated with the changes in body weight of rabbits in the treatment groups. The findings suggest that feeding Morinda citirolia juice to male rabbits for a short duration did not produce any significant changes to serum testosterone and body weight gain.

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