[Androgenic and aphrodesiac action of the medicinal plant Lithospermum Arvense (bird millet)]

Abstract

Acute toxicity, androgenic, gonadotropic, estrogenic and aphrodisiac effect of the whole medical plant Lithospermum aver arvense and its seeds was investigated on white rats and white mice. It was established that Semen Lithispermi arvense were nontoxic--LD50 in white rats and white mice was over 3000 mg/kg of body weight. The water extract of plant seeds, administered orally, in a dose of 300 mg/kg of body weight, had manifested aphodisiac and androgenic action. The obtained results are discussed in view of the usage of tea from Lithospermum arvense as a aphrodisiac drug. Suggestion is made that various types of medical plants of a given family could contain active components with opposite effects on the male sexual system.