Lycium barbarum (wolfberry) polysaccharide facilitates ejaculatory behaviour in male rats

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Lycium barbarum (wolfberry) is a traditional Chinese medicine, which has been considered to have therapeutic effect on male infertility. However, there is a lack of studies support the claims. We thus investigated the effect of Lycium barbarum polysaccharide (LBP), a major component of wolfberry, on male rat copulatory behavior. METHOD: Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into two groups (n=8 for each group). The first group received oral feeding of LBP at dosage of 1mg/kg daily. The control group received vehicle (0.01M phosphate-buffered saline, served as control) feeding daily for 21 days. Copulatory tests were conducted at 7, 14 and 21 days after initiation of treatment. RESULTS: Compared to control animals, animals fed with 1mg/kg LBP showed improved copulatory behavior in terms of: 1. Higher copulatory efficiency (i.e. higher frequency to show intromission rather than mounting during the test), 2. higher ejaculation frequency and 3. Shorter ejaculation latency. The differences were found at all time points (Analyzed with two-tailed student’s t-test, p<0.05). There is no significant difference found between the two groups in terms of mount/intromission latency, which indicates no difference in time required for initiation of sexual activity. Additionally, no difference in mount frequency and intromission frequency was found. CONCLUSION: The present study provides scientific evidence for the traditional use of Lycium barbarum on male sexual behavior. The result provides basis for further study of wolfberry on sexual functioning and its use as an alternative treatment in reproductive medicine.