Background: Infertility is a common medical problem that affects about 10-15% of couples. This disorder is related to men in 30% of cases and women in 40-50%. Spermatogenesis disorders and reduced sperm motility have been observed especially in diabetic patients. Research has shown that cumin has hypolipidemic and hypoglycemic effects and its compounds, such as cumin aldehyde and cuminol, have beneficial effects on controlling the complications of diabetes. However, the impact of cumin essential oil on sperm quality has not yet been investigated. This study aimed to examine the effect of cumin oil on the number and quality of epididymal sperm in healthy and diabetic rats.
Materials and methods: This experimental study was conducted on 24 adult male mice. The mice were divided into 4 groups (6 mice in each group) including diabetic control, diabetic receiving cumin extract, healthy control, healthy receiving cumin extract. The control groups received corn oil and the treatment group’s cumin essential oil at a dose of 5 mg/kg BW by gavage for 30 days. At the end of the period, the mice were anesthetized and blood sampling was done. After measuring body weight and testicles, sperm motility, number and morphology were measured. Testosterone hormone concentration was also evaluated.
Results: The presented results indicate that the use of cumin essential oil in healthy animals may lead to a reduction in viable sperm. However, in diabetic animals, it not only does not reduce the quantity and quality of epididymal sperm, but also helps improve diabetes-induced disorders affecting epididymal sperm. Additionally, the effects of diabetes and cumin essential oil were not associated with changes in testosterone levels.
Conclusion: This study has shown that despite the potentially adverse effects of cumin compounds on epididymis sperm, the use of cumin essential oil improves epididymal sperm in diabetic animals. This finding could serve as a basis for research aimed at enhancing reproductive health in domesticated animals under specific metabolic conditions, such as diabetes.