Farook et al , 1996

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Ancient Science of Life, Vol No. XI No.1 & 2, July & October 1991, Pages 9 - 11 
 
 
EFFECTS OF ANETHOLE ON SEMINAL VESICLE OF ALBINO RATS 
 
T. FAROOK, G. VANITHAKUMARI, G. BHUVANESWARI, T. MALINI AND 
S. MANONAYAKI 
 
Department of Zoology, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore – 641 046, India. 
 
Received: 27 November 1990 Accepted: 23 December 1990 
 
ABSTRACT: Administration of anethole at 10 and 50 mg doses caused significant reduction in 
seminal vesicle weight, RNA and protein concentrations and contents and acid phosphates 
activity. However, there was significant increase in DNA concentrations and in the activities of 
alkaline phosphates and lactate dehydrogenase. The effects were more pronounced in the group 
receiving 50 mg of anethole. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
Foeniculum vulgara Mill (Fennel) is a well 
known Umbelliferous plant, whose seeds are 
used widely in folk medicine to increase 
milk secretion, promote menstruation and 
facilitate birth1,2. Extracts of the seeds have 
shown to increase the weights of mammary 
glands, oviducts, uteri, cervix and vagina of 
ovariectomised rats and induced vaginal 
cornification in immature and 
ovariectomised rats3,4. Anethole is the 
major constituent of fennel seed oil2. This 
compound possesses antispermatogenic 
effects and reduces sperm concentrations in 
epidermis of adult male albino rats5. 
However, its effects on other accessory 
reproductive organs have not been worked 
out. The present study concerns with the 
effects of anethole on organ weights and on 
a few biochemical parameters in seminal 
vesicle. 
 
MATERIALS AND METHODS 
 
Antheole was purchased from Bioorganic, 
Madras. 
 
Adult male albino rats weighing 180 – 200 g 
body wt. were maintained under uniform 
laboratory conditions and were provided 
with standard rat pellet diet (Hindustan 
Lever Ltd., Bangalore) and water ad 
libitum. They were divided into 3 groups, 
each comprising of 5 animals. Animals in 
group I received ethanolic saline and served 
as controls. Animals in group II and III 
received 10 and 50 mg of anethole, 
respectively. All the animals were treated 
for 7 days, intramuscularly. 
 
Twenty four hours after the last injections, 
the animals were sacrificed by decapitation. 
Seminal vesicle was dissected out, freed 
from adhering tissues, blotted and weighed 
accurately to the nearest 0.1 mg on a torsion 
balance. The wet weight of the organ was 
expressed as mg|100g body weight. 
Required amount of tissue was homogenized 
and centrifuged in appropriate media and 
speed respectively and the supernatant was 
used for the estimation of total protein6, 
Pages 9 - 11 
RNA7, DNA8, concentrations, acid, alkaline 
phosphatases9 and total lactate 
dehydrogenase activities10. The data were 
analysed statistically using Student’s ‘t’ test. 
 
 
TABLE 1 
 
Effects of anethole on body weight, organs weight and on a few biochemical parameters in 
seminal vesicle of albio rats 
 
Parameters Control Low dose 
(10 mg/100g body 
wt) 
High dose 
(50 mg/ 100 g body 
wt) 
Body weight (g) 
 
Initial weight 
 
Final weight 
 
Organ weight 
(mg|100 g body wt.) 
 
Protein concentration* 
 
Protein content** 
 
RNA concentration 
 
RNA content** 
 
DNA concentration* 
 
DNA content** 
 
RNA | DNA ratio (mg) 
 
Protein | DNA ration 
(mg) 
 
Alkaline phosphates*** 
 
Acid Phosphatase*** 
 
Lactate dehydrogenase 
(mIU |hr |mg Protein) 
 
 
 
200 ± 11.22 
 
198 ± 13.61 
 
230.02 ± 16.25 
 
 
4.07 ± 0.31 
 
18.65 ± 1.51 
 
0.70 ± 0.06 
 
3.33 ± 0.47 
 
0.40 ± 0.04 
 
1.83 ± 0.25 
 
1.75 
 
10.18 
 
 
0.50 ± 0.03 
 
1.48 ± 0.12 
 
882 ± 71.31 
 
 
197 ± 12. 11 
 
195 ± 14.25 
 
197.60 ± 14.43 
 
 
2.47 ± 0.15 
 
9.74 ± 0.74a 
 
0.45 ± 0.04a 
 
1.84 ± 0.28a 
 
0.05 ± 0.05a 
 
2.20 ± 0.28 
 
0.82 
 
4.49 
 
 
0.87 ± 0.06a 
 
1.00 ± 0.08a 
 
1261 ± 106.50 
 
 
198 ± 11.72 
 
194 ± 11.92 
 
170.60 ± 14.63a 
 
 
1.40 ± 0.11ab 
 
4.94 ± 0.68ab 
 
0.34 ± 0.03a 
 
1.15 ± 0.14a 
 
0.70 ± 0.06a 
 
2.95 ± 0.30 
 
0.50 
 
2.00 
 
 
4.00 ± 0.31ab 
 
0.62 ± 0.05ab 
 
1649 ± 149.40a 
 
Pages 9 - 11 
Each value is the mean ± SEM of 5 animals 
 
P<0.05 ‘a’ Control vs low dose and high dose treated 
 
P<0.05 ‘b’ Low dose treated vs high dose treated 
 
*mg|100 mg tissue; ** mg | organ weight; *** µ moles of p-nitrophenol formed |hr | mg| protein 
 
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 
 
Table – 1 depicts the effects of anethole on 
body weight, organ weight and on a few 
biochemical parameters in the seminal 
vesicle of albino rats. The body weight did 
not change much but a significant decrease 
in seminal vesicle weight was recorded 
following high dose anethole treatment. A 
significant decrease in protein, RNA 
concentrations and contents, RNA | DNA, 
protein | DNA ratios was observed after both 
low and high dose anethole treatment. DNA 
concentrations were, however, significantly 
elevated at both the doses and the DNA 
content remained unaltered. While the 
activities of alkaline phosphatase and lactate 
dehydrogenase were increased, the acid 
phosphatase registered a sharp decline in its 
activity. 
 
Seminal vesicle, being mainly secretory 
organ has more secretory cells than muscle 
cells which contribute for the organ 
weights11 and any adverse effect on the 
secretory cells is reflected in the reduction 
of organ weight. The prominent feature of 
androgen action is stimulation of RNA and 
protein synthesis12. In the present 
investigation, the decrease in protein and 
RNA concentrations and contents after both 
low and high dose anethole treatment might 
be due to the absence of androgen action 
since androgens influence transcriptional 
events and regulate the synthesis of 
proteins12,13. The decrease in RNA | DNA 
and protein | DNA ratio reflects the loss of 
ribosomes and cytoplasmic shrinkage. 
 
In rat and mouse seminal vesicle, the 
alkaline phosphatase belongs to the category 
of stromal rather than epithelial secretory 
enzymes14. Furthermore, the distribution of 
alkaline phosphatase activity in mammalian 
tissue or various cells types suggest that this 
enzyme may be involved in tissue 
regeneration15. The increase in DNA 
concentration and alkaline phosphatase 
activity after anethole treatment may be due 
to the profound influence of anethole on 
fibro muscular stromal growth as observed 
histologically in earlier studies7, since all 
increase in cellular mass was supported by 
the increased levels of DNA concentrations 
and alkaline phosphatase activity. 
 
The acid phosphatase serves as a marker 
enzyme for androgen action16. The decrease 
in acid phosphatase activity observed in the 
present study may be attributed to the 
suppressed secretory activity and also due to 
the inadequate androgen supply. The 
increase in lactate dehydrogenase activity 
may be a compensatory mechanism by the 
degenerating tissue which requires 
additional energy for its maintenance. 
 
It appears from the data that anethole may 
interfere with either biosynthesis or action of 
androgen on sex accessory tissues. The 
actual mechanism by which anethole 
inhibits seminal vesicle functional status is 
under investigation and will highlight the 
Pages 9 - 11 
utility of this compound as a nonsteroidal 
antifertility drug in the male. 
 
 
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 
 
One of the authors (T. M.) is thankful to 
CSIR, New Delhi for financial assistance. 
 
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