Krishnamoorthy Venkateskumar1 
,
Veerasamy Ravichandran2,
Geethaa Sahgal3,
Selvaraja Shobhaharan1,
Thambiraja Sanchithaa1,
Sukumaran Manickam4,
Surash Ramanathan5,
Jayaprakash Venkatesan6,
Subramani Parasuraman3, 7
For correspondence:- Krishnamoorthy Venkateskumar Email: venkateskumar@aimst.edu.my Tel:+60 16-4542991
Received: 15 February 2025 Accepted: 20 October 2025 Published: 31 October 2025
Citation: Venkateskumar K, Ravichandran V, Sahgal G, Shobhaharan S, Sanchithaa T, Manickam S, et al. Contraceptive effect of the ethanol leaf extract of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis via in-silico virtual screening and pharmacological activity. Trop J Pharm Res 2025; 24(10):1209-1220 doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/tjpr.v24i10.1
© 2025 The authors.
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Purpose: To investigate the male contraceptive potential of the ethanol leaf extract of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis (EEHR) in male Sprague Dawley rats. Methods: The extracts of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis (HR) leaves were prepared by maceration using distilled water, ethanol, and methanol as solvents. Phytochemical analysis and antioxidant potential were assessed using DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) and hydrogen peroxide scavenging assay. Sprague Dawley rats were administered EEHR daily and its effect on sperm count, sperm motility, biochemical parameters, organ weight analysis and histopathological changes was assessed after 21 days of treatment. Molecular docking studies of target proteins (1D2S,1E3G) with phytochemical constituents reported in leaves of HR were also carried out. Results: Phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of phenol, tannin, flavonoids, terpenoids, triterpenes and diterpenes. Antioxidant effect of EEHR was significantly higher in aqueous and methanol extracts compared to ethanol extract (p < 0.05). Sperm count, sperm motility, and weight reduction of epididymal caput/corpus, and absence of changes in biochemical content were significantly reduced in EEHR compared to control (p < 0.05). Histopathological analysis revealed alterations in seminiferous tubules and intraepithelial vacuolation in EEHR-treated rats. Molecular docking results showed that quercitrin, (-)-epicatechin, and quercetin showed the most effective binding with the target protein (1D2S), whereas quercetin, rhamnetin, and quercitrin showed effective binding with the target protein (1E3G). Conclusion: Ethanolic extract of leaves of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis (EEHR) significantly reduces sperm count, sperm motility, epididymal caput/corpus weight, and induces alterations of seminiferous tubules. Furthermore, docking study results clearly support the contraceptive potential of EEHR.
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