Gabriel O. Oludare

 Male reproductive processes are impacted by edible fats. The present work studied the effect of the consumption of a sunflower-enriched diet on sperm variables and reproductive hormones in male rats. A total of twenty male Wistar rats were used in this study. The Control group received the regular rat chow while the Treated group received the regular rat chow supplemented with 25% linoleic sunflower oil. After 28 days sperm variables, and reproductive hormones were assessed.

Nitric oxide (NO) plays a role in estrogen-mediated uterine receptivity. We hypothesize that L-arginine a NO substrate will increase NO production and boost pregnancy outcomes in rats with inhibited NO synthase activity. Thirty-two pregnant rats were randomly divided into four groups, control (10 mL/kg of water), L-NAME (50 mg/kg), L-NAME + L-Arg (50 mg/kg and 500 mg/kg) and L-Arg only (500 mg/kg). L-Arg and L-NAME were administered orally and subcutaneously respectively from day 3-11 of pregnancy.