title: Impairment of fertility of male rats with prazosin.
abstract: This study examines the effects of subcutaneous injections of the alpha-adrenoceptor antagonist prazosin on the fertility of male rats. Twice daily administration of prazosin (total 1.4 mg/kg body weight) caused an impairment of fertility (number of implants reduced from 8.4 +/- 0.6 to 1.8 +/- 1.0). This effect was produced no later than 7h after administration of prazosin (assuming mating occurs between 22.30 and 1.30) and was reversible. The treatment severely reduced the vaginal sperm count (from 15.2 +/- 2.8 to 1.0 +/- 0.5 x 10(6)) and caused an enhancement of preimplantation losses (from 22 +/- 5 to 84 +/- 9%). Libido (sexual drive), mating ability and motility of epididymal sperm remained unaltered. It is concluded that the antifertility effect of prazosin results from dysfunction of ejaculation and by suppression of the fertilizing potential of spermatozoa.
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka.
authors.forename: W D
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Ratnasooriya
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Wadsworth
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004542:Ejaculation / Q000187:drug effects; D005298:Fertility / Q000187:drug effects*; D007279:Injections, Subcutaneous; D007989:Libido / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D011224:Prazosin / Q000009:adverse effects*; D051381:Rats; D013081:Sperm Motility / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D011224:Prazosin