Abstract:
Diabetes mellitus is a prevalent metabolic disorder that leads to other microvascular and macrovascular
complication, affecting both men and women. It has thus been discovered to have an adverse effect on the
fertility of men as a result of diabetic induced oxidative stress (Omolaoye, et al., 2018), which damages
the sperm cell. Carica papaya is usually used in folklore medicine to treat many conditions which include
the use of papaya leaf juice in increasing platelet count, treating asthma and other complications (Ankit
and Devendrasinh, 2017). Diabetic male rats were treated with C. papaya extract for a duration of 14 days,
glucose concentration was determined using the Randox glucose kit; 20µl of samples and standard were
mixed with 200µl of working reagent and incubated at 37oC for 10 minutes, the absorbance was read at
500nm against a blank that consisted only the working reagent. Concentration of plasma glucose was
obtained by the calculation: (Absorbance of Sample/Absorbance of Standard) X Standard Concentration
(103mg/dl). Seminal analysis was ran as recorded by Cheesbrough, 2005., for evaluation of morphology,
motility and sperm count under the microscope. Experiment carried out gave results of a significant
decrease in plasma glucose levels in diabetic rats treated with C. papaya extracts as well as metformin
drug. The seminal analysis parameters that were ran also showed a significant increase in the percentage
of motile sperm cells in rats subjected to 200mg/kg body weight extract treatment in comparison to the
diabetic rats with a percentage mean and standard deviation value of 73.10 ± 5.50. The study has shown
that C. papaya may be able to reduce the effect of diabetic induced oxidative stress on the sperm cells,
and improving the fertility of male rats. However, more research is required to investigate the activity of
antioxidants and superoxide dismutase activity in the effect of C. papaya on male fertility.
