Abstract

There is a need to develop new drugs from natural products for the safe and effective management of female reproductive disorders. This research was therefore aimed at the investigation of two commonly consumed natural products on uterine function. The ex-vivo uterine activity of Theobroma cacao aqueous seed extract and Cymbopogon citratus aqueous leaf extract was investigated on non-pregnant mouse uteri. The effect of T. cacao (0.1 mg/mL) and C. citratus (0.1 mg/mL) on spontaneous uterine contractility and in the presence of oxytocin (11.54 nM) was examined. This study showed that T. cacao elicited a significant increase (p < 0.05) in the amplitude of spontaneous uterine contractions with no significant change in the frequency, which was similarly observed with C. citratus leaf extract. An increase in amplitude and frequency of oxytocin-induced uterine contractions was observed in the presence of T. cacao while in the presence of C. citratus there was a significant (p< 0.05) reduction in amplitude and non-significant reduction in frequency of oxytocin-induced uterine contractions. The uterotonic effect of both extracts in the absence of agonists, as observed from this study maybe as a result of constituents with agonistic activity on intracellular calcium. This study has shown that T. cacao and C. citratus have stimulate uterine activity and may therefore be useful in the management of uterine contractility disorders.

Key words: Theobroma cacao; Cymbopogon citratus; uterus; oxytocin; spontaneous contractions