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Background: In Ayurveda and traditional medicines of different countries such as Iran, America and Brazil, asafoetida has been used as an aphrodisiac agent. Objective: The present study was aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of asafoetida on spermatic and testicular parameters in treated rats. Materials and Methods: A total of 30 male Wistar rats divided equally to five groups (one control and four test groups receiving 25, 50,100 and 200 mg/kg asafoetida respectively). After 6 weeks, a small part of the cauda epididymis of each rat was dissected, and the spermatic parameters were evaluated for at least 200 spermatozoa of each animal. Testis of all rats was harvested for pathologic examination. The testosterone concentration of serum was also determined. Data were statistically assessed by one-way ANOVA and value of P < 0.05 was considered as the level of significance. Results: This study indicated that the asafoetida significantly increased the number and viability of sperms (P < 0.05). Histological study showed that spermatogenesis process and numbers of Leydig cells were increased with increasing the dose, but the Leydig cells become vacuolated. Johnsen score in experimental groups was increased compared to control although this difference was not significant (P > 0.05). Conclusion: Asafoetida showed a positive effect on spermatic parameters although the histopathological effects on the testis were observed, particularly at high doses.

Background: Ferula assa foetida commonly consumed as a healthy beverage has been demonstrated to have various biological activities, including antioxidation, anti-obesity and anti-cancer., Objective: Our study aims to investigate the antitumor effect of asafoetida in vivo using mouse mammary carcinoma 4T1 cells., Materials and Methods: In the study, female BALB/c mice were divided into two groups (n = 6), which were control (untreated) and other group of mice with breast cancer treated with 100 mg/kg of asafoetida, respectively, by oral gavage. All mice were injected into the mammary fat pad with 4T1 cells (1 × 10 5 4T1 cells/0.1 ml of phosphate buffer solution). Asafoetida was administered on day 15 after the tumor had developed for 3 weeks. At end of experiment, tumor weight, tumor volume and tumor burden were measured and lung, liver, kidney and tumor were harvested and sections were prepared for histopathological analysis. Lipoxygenase inhibitory and antioxidant activity of asafoetida was also determined., Results: Our results showed that treatment with asafoetida was effective in decreasing the tumor weight and tumor volume in treated mice. Body weight significantly increased in female BALB/c mice against control. Apart from the antitumor effect, asafoetida decreased lung, liver and kidney metastasis and also increased areas of necrosis in the tumor tissue respectively., Conclusions: The present study demonstrated that asafoetida has potent antitumor and antimetastasis effects on breast cancer and is a potential source of natural antitumor products., (Copyright © 2017 Transdisciplinary University, Bangalore and World Ayurveda Foundation. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: In Ayurveda and traditional medicines of different countries such as Iran, America and Brazil, asafoetida has been used as an aphrodisiac agent., Objective: The present study was aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of asafoetida on spermatic and testicular parameters in treated rats., Materials and Methods: A total of 30 male Wistar rats divided equally to five groups (one control and four test groups receiving 25, 50,100 and 200 mg/kg asafoetida respectively). After 6 weeks, a small part of the cauda epididymis of each rat was dissected, and the spermatic parameters were evaluated for at least 200 spermatozoa of each animal. Testis of all rats was harvested for pathologic examination. The testosterone concentration of serum was also determined. Data were statistically assessed by one-way ANOVA and value of P < 0.05 was considered as the level of significance., Results: This study indicated that the asafoetida significantly increased the number and viability of sperms (P < 0.05). Histological study showed that spermatogenesis process and numbers of Leydig cells were increased with increasing the dose, but the Leydig cells become vacuolated. Johnsen score in experimental groups was increased compared to control although this difference was not significant (P > 0.05)., Conclusion: Asafoetida showed a positive effect on spermatic parameters although the histopathological effects on the testis were observed, particularly at high doses.