Impairment of adult male reproductive function in rats exposed to ethanol since puberty.
The objective of this work was to evaluate reproductive function in adult male rats exposed to ethanol since puberty. Male Wistar rats, 50 days old, received a liquid diet with 36% of the daily calories derived from ethanol or an isocaloric control diet for 55 days. The ethanol treatment impaired sexual behavior and only 22% of these rats reached ejaculation. The fertility of ethanol-treated animals was significantly reduced, mainly after natural mating. Serum testosterone levels, daily sperm production and sperm count in the epididymis were also significantly diminished after ethanol treatment, associated with an acceleration of the sperm transit time in the cauda epididymidis, decrease in sperm motility and increased percentage of abnormal shaped sperm cells. The results showed that chronic consumption of ethanol beginning at puberty impairs the reproductive function of adult male rats.
Oliva
Samara U
SU
Departamento de Farmacologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Estadual Paulista, UNESP, Botucatu 18618-000, SP, Brazil.
Messias
Alessandra G
AG
Silva
Daniela A F
DA
Pereira
Oduvaldo C M
OC
Gerardin
Daniela C C
DC
Kempinas
Wilma G
WG
D000818:Animals; D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000633:toxicity; D004542:Ejaculation / Q000187:drug effects; D000431:Ethanol / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000633:toxicity*; D005260:Female; D005298:Fertility / Q000187:drug effects; D005837:Genitalia, Male / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D009638:Norepinephrine / Q000494:pharmacology; D010656:Phenylephrine / Q000494:pharmacology; D019836:Preimplantation Diagnosis / Q000379:methods; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects; D012741:Sexual Maturation / Q000187:drug effects*; D013076:Sperm Count / Q000662:veterinary; D013091:Spermatogenesis / Q000187:drug effects; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000002:abnormalities / Q000187:drug effects; D013739:Testosterone / Q000097:blood; D015430:Weight Gain / Q000187:drug effects; D015431:Weight Loss / Q000187:drug effects
D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants; D010656:Phenylephrine; D000431:Ethanol; D013739:Testosterone; D009638:Norepinephrine