Male Infertility (Case of Varicocele): Ethnobotanical Survey of Traditional Healers in the Cities of Dakar and Mbour, Senegal

Background: In recent decades, fertility appears to be increasing, which is a public health problem and involving all health actors. Thus, the varicocele is one of the causes affects about 12% of the male population.

Aim/Objective: The aim of this study is to inventory the plants used against the treatment of varicocele because the populations often resort to phytotherapy.

Methods: It is in this sense that a survey of twenty two traditional practitioners and six herbalists were conducted to identify the plants used in the management of varicocele in the Dakar and Mbour departments.

Results: Thirty five plants could be identified and divided into thirty three genera and twenty two families. Fabaceae was the most represented family with 5 species followed by Anacardiaceae (4 species), Asclepiadaceae, Combretaceae, Menispermaceae, Rhamnaceae, Rubiaceae and Zingiberaceae each with 2 species, Annonaceae, Asteraceae, Balanitaceae, Cochlospermaceae, Cucurbitaceae, Cyperaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Icacinaceae, Meliaceae, Myrtaceae, Olacaceae, Oleaceae and Rutaceae each with one species. The most frequent plant species against varicocele were : Khaya senegalensis, Securinega virosa, Guiera senegalensis, Cissampelos mucronata, Tamarindus indica and Zinziber officinale. Some species have been mentioned very frequently to fight the varicocele. These are : Khaya senegalensis (8.57%), Securinega virosa (5.71%), Guiera senegalensis (5.71%) etc. Roots (48%) and Leaves (35%) constituted the greatest use in the form of decocted (44%), infused (27%), powder (25%) macerated (2%), for others uses (3%).

Conclusion: The result of this study was shown that medicinal plants are promising in the management of varicocele. Further investigations are needed to explore the bioactive compounds of these herbal medicines, aimed at exploring the bioactive compounds that can be developed as drugs for varicocele.