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Usually, the side effects of synthetic drugs appear after a long time of
their usage. For that reason, these years, diseases treatment by herbal
drugs is very interested. In this study, regarding to the mentioned
purposes, we evaluate the effects of Vitex agnus castus L. (Vit.) fruit
extract on the activity of Pituitary- Gonadal axis in Balb/C male mice.
LD50 of the extract was obtained 1650 mg/kg. Regarding to the LD50
of the extract, the following doses (65, 165, 265, 365, 465 mg/kg)
were injected intraperitoneally for 30 days in 5 groups of animals.
After the last injection, we collected the blood samples and measured
FSH, LH and testosterone by Radio Immuno Assay (RIA) technique.
Vitex extract decreased the FSH, LH and testosterone levels
comparing to the control and sham groups. The optimum dose was
obtained 365 mg/kg. These results suggest that Vit. fruit extract has an
anti-androgenic effect and probably acts through the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-
Gonadal (HPG) axis