Urinary NMR-based metabolomic analysis of rats possessing variable sperm count following orally administered Eurycoma longifolia extracts of different quassinoid levels.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Eurycoma longifolia (Tongkat Ali, TA) roots have been ethnically used as a remedy to boost male sexual desire, libido, energy and fertility.

AIM OF THE STUDY: The study evaluated the effect of TA extracts with different quassinoid levels on rats sperm count and examined corresponding post-treatment urinary metabolic changes.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-four male Sprague-Dawley rats, categorized into 4 groups of 6 rats each, were orally administered for 48 days with water for the control (group 1), 125mg/kg of TA water extract (TAW, group 2), 125mg/kg of TA quassinoid-poor extract (TAQP, group 3) and 21mg/kg of TA quassinoid-rich extract (TAQR, group 4). Upon completion of the 48-day treatment, the urine samples were analyzed by NMR and the animals were subsequently sacrificed for sperm count analysis. The urine profiles were categorized according to sperm count level.

RESULTS: The results showed that the sperm count in TAW- and TAQR-treated groups was significantly higher compared to the TAQP-administered and control groups. The orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) model indicated a clear separation among the urine profiles with respect to sperm count level. Urine (1)H-NMR profiles of the high-sperm count group contained higher concentrations of trigonelline, alanine, benzoic acid and higher intensity of a signal at 3.42ppm, while ethanol was at higher concentration in the normal-sperm count group.

CONCLUSIONS: The results proved the efficacy of quassinoids on sperm count increase in rats and provided quantitative markers in urine suitable for analysis of sperm profile and male fertility status.