Table 4.

Ashwagandha’s effects on the reproductive system—a summary of the studies.

Authors	Characteristic of the Group	Ashwagandha Formulation Characteristics	Duration of the Observation	Results	References
Baghel et al.	18 sexually mature six weeks old male Japanese quail as a animal model of infertility, provoked by using photoperiodic chambers	100 mg/day/kg of W. Somnifera root extract; oral administraion	few months of inducing infertility using photoperiodic chambers and 45 days of Ashwagandha administration	↑expression of estrogen receptor alpha ↑estrogen ↓corticosterone	[51]
Megahd et al.	50 adult female rats; model of H2O2-induced utero-ovarian oxidative injury and cell death, what caused reduction in serum level of FSH, LH, progesterone, and estrogen compared to a healthy control group	200 mg/kg Ashwagandha tea extract; oral administraion	1 month	↑FSH ↑LH ↑progesterone ↑estrogen -significantly restored estrous cycle length	[52]
Ajgaonkar et al.	prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled study; 80 women, 18–50 years old, without any hormonal disturbances and having hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) with a Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) score < 26, or Female Sexual Distress Scale (FSDS) score > 11	300 mg of standardized Ashwagandha root extract twice daily; oral administraion	8 weeks	-improvement in sexual functions	[14]
Chauhan et al.	randomized, controlled trial; 50 healthy male subjects with low sexual desire	300 mg of Ashwagandha root extract twice daily; oral administraion	8 weeks	↑testosterone -improvement of sexual functions measured by DISF-M	[49]