Objectives: Loranthus micranthus is widely used in Nigerian folklore treatment of male infertility and diabetes complications. We investigated this claim in rats rendered diabetic by streptozotocin (STZ).

Methods: Induction of diabetes mellitus in adult male Wistar rats was by intraperitoneal injection of STZ (60 mg/kg). The diabetic rats were thereafter treated orally once/day with 5 mg/kg Gilbenclamide or L. micranthus (100 mg/kg or 200 mg/kg) and monitored for 14 days. Clinical observations, hormonal profile, oxidative stress parameters, glucose metabolism enzymes, histopathological examination, apoptotic marker immunoreactivity and western blotting in testes and sperm parameters were evaluated to examine effects of L. micranthus on STZ-diabetic rats.

Results: L. micranthus treatment significantly reduced the blood glucose level (45.9% and 84.7% on the 7th and 14th post-treatment days, respectively); increased antioxidant status, improved microarchitecture of testes, reduced lipid peroxidation and increased BCl-2 protein expression in diabetic rats relative to control. Furthermore, treatment with L. micranthus increased steroidogenic enzymes activities, levels of steroid hormones and improved sperm quality, relative to control.

Conclusion: The anti-diabetic and aphrodisiac properties exhibited by L. micranthus could be contingent on its ability to restore a balance to the compromised redox status that characterizes male reproductive dysfunction in diabetes.

目的： 罗汉果（Loranthus micranthus）被广泛用于尼日利亚民间文学艺术治疗男性不育和糖尿病并发症。我们调查了链脲佐菌素（STZ）致糖尿病大鼠的这一说法。

方法：腹腔注射STZ（60 mg / kg）诱导成年雄性Wistar大鼠糖尿病。此后，每天用5 mg / kg Gilbenclamide或米氏乳杆菌（100 mg / kg或200 mg / kg）口服治疗糖尿病大鼠，并监测14天。评估了临床观察，荷尔蒙谱，氧化应激参数，葡萄糖代谢酶，组织病理学检查，凋亡标记物免疫反应性以及睾丸和精子参数的蛋白质印迹，以评价米氏乳杆菌对STZ-糖尿病大鼠的作用。

结果： L。micranthus治疗显着降低了血糖水平（治疗后第7天和第14天分别降低了45.9％和84.7％）；与对照组相比，糖尿病大鼠的抗氧化状态增加，睾丸微结构改善，脂质过氧化减少和BCl-2蛋白表达增加。此外，相对于对照，用米氏乳杆菌的治疗增加了类固醇生成酶的活性，类固醇激素的水平并改善了精子质量。

结论：米氏乳杆菌表现出的抗糖尿病和壮阳性能可能取决于其能否恢复受损的氧化还原状态的平衡，而氧化还原状态是​​糖尿病男性生殖功能障碍的特征。