Red Ginger (Zingiber officinale var. Amarum) Infusion Increases Concentration of Luteinizing Hormone and Testosterone in Male Rats

Introduction: Herbal remedies have been developed as a complementary therapy to increase sex hormones. The administration of the ethanolic extract of red ginger (Zingiber officinale var. Amarum) has been shown to increase spermatogenic cells, motility and morphology of sperm in mice. However, the effect of red ginger infusion on the level of testosterone and luteinizing hormone (LH) has not been done. Objective: to examine the effect of red ginger infusion on LH and testosterone levels of male Wistar rats.

Methods: The study was designed as an experimental post-test only control group design. Twenty four male Wistar rats of 200-250 g body weight aged + 3-4 months were divided into four groups. a control group (G-1) was given distilled water 2 ml/day. Group 2 (G-2), Group 3 (G-3), and group 4 (G-4) were treated with 10%, 20%, and 40% infusion by dissolving 2 ml of ginger in distilled water. On day 15, blood samples were taken and assayed for LH and testosterone.

Results: The one-way ANOVA test showed difference in levels of LH and testosterone between groups (p <0.001). Post Hoc LSD test results showed that the levels of LH of G-1 (0350) was significantly lower than that of G-2 (1082), G-3 (1 253), and G-4 (0923), p <0.005. While the levels of testosterone in the G-1 (0.2718) significantly lower than the G-2 (0.7797), G-3 (0.8285), and the G-4 (0.9142) (p <0.005).

Conclusion: red ginger infusion for 14 days can increase the levels of LH and testosterone in male rats.