Dicliptera laxata (Acanthaceae) (C. B. Clark) Unblocks an Abamectin-Blocked Estrous Cycle and Restores Cyclicity in Female Albino Rats

The farmers of the Buea municipality, Fako Division, South-West Region, Cameroon extensively use Abamectin or Aba, a phytosanitary insecticide which targets insects such as mites, thrips species and leaf miners. In this area, the local population also uses Dicliptera laxata traditionally as a fertility enhancer and in stabilizing risky pregnancies in women. This study was aimed at evaluating the actions of Dicliptera laxata aqueous extract on the estrous cycle and reproductive system of Aba-treated female rats. A total of 30 adult female rats of the confirmed regular cycle were daily treated orally with a 2 ml/kg Abamectin for a period of 45 days, accompanied by the evaluation of the cytology of their vaginal smears at 5 days intervals. From the 46th day, they were subsequently treated with the leaf-aqueous extract of Dicliptera laxata for 15 days and were terminated on the 61st day during which blood and reproductive organs were collected for biochemical assays and relative weight indices. Chronic (45 days) exposure of normal cycled female rats to Abamectin witnessed a blockade in their estrous cycle, a significant drop in plasma estradiol and progesterone concentration, and a significant drop in the percentage weight of organs. Administration of Dicliptera laxata leaf-aqueous extract to these Aba-treated females resulted in a return to the regularity of their estrous cycle, with animals receiving the 300 mg/kg dose of plant extract recording a 60% regulation in the first week and 100% in the second week as compared to animals treated with distilled water that recorded a 0% and 20% regulation in the first and second week of treatment, respectively. Also, the animals that received 300 mg/kg body weight of the extract registered significant (p