Benefits
Serum testosterone in male rats
In male rats, a water extract of fadogia stem given by mouth at 18, 50 or 100 mg/kg a day raised serum testosterone at every dose over 5 days, in a pattern the authors described as suggestive of dose dependence. This has not been tested in people, and 28 days at the same doses altered testicular markers in rats.
Mating behavior in male rats
In the same 5-day rat study, all three doses increased mount and intromission frequency, shortened the time to first mount and intromission, and prolonged ejaculation latency. Fadogia is used in traditional African medicine as an aphrodisiac, but no human study of libido or sexual function was found.
Traditional fever remedy screened in cell culture
Fadogia was one of seven plants chosen from a Burkina Faso survey of traditional medicine for a lab screen, where its alkaloid extract inhibited a chloroquine-resistant malaria parasite in culture (IC50 between 4 and 10 micrograms/mL). No human or animal study of this use was found; it is a historical-use note, not a health benefit.
Mechanism of action
Raised serum testosterone in rats
Over 5 days, 18, 50 and 100 mg/kg of the stem extract raised serum testosterone in male rats, which the authors proposed as the cause of the increased mating behavior. Whether this works through LH or directly on the testes was not studied, and 28 days at the same doses altered testicular function markers.
Constituents identified in the plant
Screening of the stem extract found alkaloids and saponins, with anthraquinones and flavonoids weakly present. Later work isolated six monoterpene glycosides and profiled 73 compounds, including phenolic acids, flavonoids and terpene glycosides. Which of these, if any, drive the rat findings is unknown.
Nitric oxide and cGMP markers in rat penile tissue
In male rats whose mating behavior had been lowered with paroxetine, 18, 50 and 100 mg/kg of the extract raised penile and testicular nitric oxide, cGMP and antioxidant enzymes and lowered PDE5, arginase and oxidative stress markers toward control levels. Groups had 5 rats each; no human data.
Same doses given for 28 days changed rat organ markers
The rat studies that found adverse testicular, liver and kidney marker changes used the same 18 to 100 mg/kg doses as the 5-day testosterone study, given for 28 days. Partial recovery after stopping was seen on some testicular indices, mainly at 18 mg/kg.
Clinical trials
Animal study: water extract of Fadogia agrestis stem by mouth at 18, 50 or 100 mg/kg daily, with sexual behavior and serum testosterone measured on days 1, 3 and 5; no human participants (Yakubu et al. 2005, Asian J Androl)
Male albino rats.
All three doses increased mount and intromission frequency, shortened mount and intromission latency, prolonged ejaculatory latency and raised serum testosterone, in a pattern the authors described as suggestive of dose dependence. Screening of the extract found alkaloids and saponins, with anthraquinones and flavonoids weakly present.
Animal study: 18, 50 or 100 mg/kg of the stem extract by mouth daily for 28 days versus water, followed by a 10-day recovery period; biochemical measures only in the abstract (Yakubu et al. 2008, J Ethnopharmacol)
Male rats (Rattus norvegicus).
At all doses the extract raised the testes-to-body weight ratio, testicular cholesterol, sialic acid, glycogen and gamma-glutamyl transferase, and lowered alkaline phosphatase, glutamate dehydrogenase and protein; the abstract lists acid phosphatase among both the increases and the decreases. The authors read these as adverse effects on testicular function. Recovery on some indices was seen mainly at 18 mg/kg.
Animal study: 18, 50 or 100 mg/kg of the stem extract by mouth daily for 28 days versus water (Yakubu et al. 2009, Hum Exp Toxicol)
Male rats.
The extract lowered alkaline phosphatase, lactate dehydrogenase and gamma-glutamyl transferase in the liver and kidney with corresponding rises in serum, and raised serum malondialdehyde in all treated groups, which the authors read as disruption of liver and kidney cell membranes. No deaths, clinical toxicity signs or changes in liver or kidney weight ratios were seen.
Animal study: 30 male Wistar rats in 6 groups of 5; paroxetine was used to lower mating behavior, then rats received the stem extract at 18, 50 or 100 mg/kg; the authors say clinical trials are needed before human use (Ogunro et al. 2023, Reprod Sci)
Male Wistar rats.
The extract raised penile and testicular nitric oxide, cGMP, catalase, superoxide dismutase, glutathione and related thiol markers, and lowered acetylcholinesterase, PDE5, arginase, ACE and oxidative stress markers, to levels close to untreated controls. Only tissue markers are reported in the abstract.