Effects of Mirabilis jalapa L. root extract and sildenafil on paroxetine- induced sexual dysfunction in male rats and characterization of its phytoconstituents by UPLC-MS

The roots of Mirabilis jalapa L. have traditionally been used to improve male sexual performance. This fasci-nated our interest, to investigate the effects of M. jalapa L. root extract on paroxetine-induced sexual dysfunc-tion in male rats. This study included five groups, each of which was treated daily at 7:00 p.m. for 21 days, and their sexual parameters were calculated using a video recording. The main constituents of the root extract were identified using ultra-pressure liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS-TOF) based on the fragmentation patterns and molecular formulas of the identified compounds as well as previous literature. Rats treated with M. jalapa extract at 300 mg/kg displayed the highest aphrodisiac activity, followed by sildenafil 5 mg/kg + paroxetine 20 mg/kg and M. jalapa extract at 300 mg/ kg + paroxetine 20 mg/kg, with increases (P <0.05) in mount, intromission, and ejaculatory frequencies. According to the UPLC-MS tentative analysis, M. jalapa root extract contains biologically important phytocon-stituents such as azadirachtin, boeravinone-C, boeravinone-F, cyanodine-3-o-galactoside, dicaffeoylquinic-acid, ginkgolide-B, tricin-7-o-glucuronide, poncirin, and 9-O-methyl-4-hydroxyboeravinone B. This study confirmed that M. jalapa root extract possesses strong aphrodisiac effect on paroxetine induced sexually depressed male rats by restoring and increasing the mount, intromission, and ejaculatory frequencies.(c) 2022 SAAB. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.