Effect of co‐administration of Hypoxis hemerocallidea extract and antiretroviral therapy (HAART) on the histomorphology and seminal parameters in Sprague Dawley rats. (12th July 2016) - Jegede, A. I.
Summary: Although the successful introduction and rollout of antiretroviral therapy has impacted positively on morbidity and mortality of HIV‐positive patients, its interaction with plant‐based adjuvants remain sparsely investigated. We report the interaction and effects of adjuvant treatment with highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) and Hypoxis hemeocallidea (HH) extracts on testicular structure of rats. A total of 63 pathogen‐free adult male Sprague Dawley rats were divided into nine groups and treated according to protocols. HAART cocktail predisposed to significant negative testicular parameters of sperm count, motility and seminiferous tubular epithelial height (quantitatively) ( p < .03) and also altered the histomorphology of tubules with diffuse hypoplasia in seminiferous tubules. The higher dose of HH showed a better ability to mitigate the altered parameters and compares favourably with vitamin C in this protocol. While HH did not show any deleterious impact on morphometric data, its role as adjuvant did not significantly reduce the negative impact of HAART on morphometric indices especially with the lower dosage. Further investigations are warranted on the interactions between HAART and Hypoxis .