Effect of cashew nut (Anacardium occidentale L.)-supplemented diet on key biochemical indices relevant to erectile function in rats corpus cavernosum after cisplatin treatment

Cashew nut is a good source of protein rich in arginine, an amino acid with low glycaemic index and highly implicated in sexual function. The effect of dietary supplementation of cashew nut on vital biochemical parameters linked with erectile performance after cisplatin induction was investigated in this study.

The experiment contained six groups of rats (n = 6): Ratswere pre-treated with cashew nut-supplemented diet for 14 days; single i.p. injection of cisplatin at 7-mg/ml/kg body weight was used to induce erectile dysfunction; 24 h later, the corpus cavernosal was isolated for various investigations.

A marked increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) content, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) content, monoamine oxidase, adenosine deaminase, acetylcholinesterase, phosphodiesterase-5 and arginase activities with an accompanying reduction in total thiol (TSH), non-protein thiol (NPSH), total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and nitric oxide (NO) content was noticed in cisplatin-treated rats when compared with control rats. Supplementation of diet with cashew nut significantly reduced the cisplatin-induced imbalance in the parameters mentioned above. Also, dietary supplementation of cashew nut improved male sexual behaviour by increasing mounting, intromission and ejaculation numbers as well as reducing mounting, intromission and ejaculation latencies in male rats under normal and cisplatin-induced conditions.

As observed, cashew nut showed protection against corpus cavernosum damage induced by cisplatin. Thus, these activities could be deployed to substantiate the folkloric use of cashew nut as an aphrodisiac.