Effects of Graded Dose of Honey Administered Orally on Gonadal and Extra-Gonadal Sperm Reserves of Rabbit

Honey is a nutritive natural by-product of bees obtained from nectar collected from flowering plants. It contains moisture, sugars, enzymes, essential elements and vitamins. This study is designed to determine the effects of graded dose of honey administered orally on gonadal and extra-gonadal sperm reverses of rabbit. Twelve apparently healthy male rabbit (buck) aged two months weighing 4 ±1.2 kg were purchased and housed in a cages at the Large Animal Clinic, Veterinary Teaching Hospital, University of Maiduguri. The rabbits were fed, grower mesh and supplemented with groundnut leaves, drinking water was provided ad libitum. The rabbits were acclimatized for 14 days. Thereafter, they were randomly divided into 4 groups A, B, C and D as treatment groups and control group, respectively, with 3 rabbits in each group. Groups A, B and C were administered orally graded dose of honey at the dose rate of (5, 10 and 15) ml respectively, between 9:00 – 10:00 am daily for 6 weeks. At the end of the experimental period the rabbits were aseptically prepared for surgical removal of their testes. The testes and epididymides were carefully sampled, weighed and processed. The results revealed that the right, left, and paired testicles weights were not significantly different among the treatment groups compared to the control (group D). However, the testicular sperm reserves were significantly (P <0.05) influenced by the treatments. Sperm reserves in both left and right testicles of rabbits treated with 5 ml of honey were not significantly different with the group that was administered with 10ml of water but, groups that were administered 10ml and 15ml of honey were significantly (P><0.05) higher than the group that was administered with 5 ml of honey compared to the group treated with 10 ml of water. The epididymal sperm reserves were significantly (P><0.05) higher than the groups treated with 10 ml and 15 ml of honey compared to the group treated with 5 ml of honey and the group treated with 10 ml of water. This study suggests that honey has the potential to influence gonadal and extragonadal sperm reserves of rabbits at dosage of 10- 15 ml per day for optimum quantity and quality of semen>