A review on the Role of Medicinal Plants Extracts in Androgenic Pathways Reported in South Africa

The paper was aimed at exploring the role of various medicinal plant extracts in the androgenic pathways. The following search engines were used to obtain articles to use in the paper: “PubMed, Science direct, google scholar”. Terms such as “medicinal plant extracts”, “testosterone production”, “libido”, “male infertility” were used to search the literature. The findings of the search were that there was variety of plants belonging in different families that had an impact on the male fertility. Thirty (30) papers that reported indigenous plants to South Africa and known to exhibits androgenic effects were reviewed. Some plants were reported to improve sexual desire (aphrodisiac), while others improved spermatogenesis as well as directly increasing male reproductive hormones. The action in which these medicinal plants target the infertility factor revolves around the phytochemicals they contain that signifies them as androgenic promoters. It enhances the expression of steroidogenic acute regulatory (StAR) gene responsible for cholesterol transportation and initiation of testosterone biosynthesis; alkaloids promote biosynthesis of cholesterol precursor needed for testosterone production and saponins up-regulate secretion of luteinising hormone (LH), a gonadotropin responsible for initiation of testosterone production. The insight of such mechanisms offers a breakthrough in discovery of drugs or concoctions that may help in alleviation of male infertility without expressing side effects on patients.