Introduction: Urtica dioica as a medicinal plant has
various active ingradients, one of the most
important of which is coumarin.
Methods: In this experimental study, 20 adult NMRI
male mice were divided in to four groups
(n=5/each). The control group received only
normal saline. The experimental groups
also received coumarin at doses of 0.25,
0.5, 0.75 (mg/kg) respectively. Daily
injections were administered
intraperitoneally for 30 days.The mice were
anesthetized and blood samples were taken
from the heart to extract serum. The mice
were then operated on and the left tail of the
epididymis was removed to extract adult
sperm. Hormonal analysis was performed
by ELISA and CL methods
Results: The results showed that in a group of mice
that received coumarin sperm count,
testosterone and free testosterone
significantly decreased. (p<0.001)
Conclusion: With these findings it was concluded that
coumarin as an active ingradient of Urtica
diouca , contrary to expectations, reduces
epididymal sperm parameters, testosterone
and free testosterone. As a result, it may
have a potential reproductive toxicity in
adult male NMRI mice. Further studies, are
thus needed to determine its mechanism of
action upon spermatogenesis.