University Publications

The purpose of this study is to assess the effects of gossypol on body weight, female and male hormones (estrogen and testosterone) and morphological structures of ovary and testes of wistar rats. Thirty wistar rats were classified according to gender into two groups (each group contains fifteen rats). Each group was divided into three sub-groups, sub-group one represented none – treated rats (Control), sub-group two represented rats that received 0.3 g/kg extracted gossypol and sub- group three represented rats received 0.6 g/kg extracted gossypol (5 rats/sub-group). The results indicated a significant reduction in body weight for males and females group compared with the control group, decrease of estrogens level for low and high doses (P =0.04), decrease of testosterone level in low dose (P =0.035) and decrease in high dose (P = 0.384). The present results concluded that extracted gossypol had hazardous effects on body weight and hormones of for both male and female. Changes in structure of testis and ovarian follicles were evident on sexually mature males and females rats that received extracted gossypol for 21 days at dosage know to induce sterility in male and female rats (0.3 and 0.3 g/kg body weight, orally) were observed.