title: Effects of chronic amiodarone treatment on rat testis.
abstract: Amiodarone is a potent agent used to treat tachyarrhythmias, which are especially refractory to other medications, in both adults and children. Although widely used as an antiarrhythmic drug, amiodarone causes many serious adverse effects that limit its use. This study investigated the possible morphological and apoptotic effects of amiodarone on rat testes. Amiodarone was administered to male Sprague-Dawley rats at doses of 20 or 200mg/kg/day for 14 days. A histopathological examination of testicular tissue revealed the presence of inflammatory cells in the seminiferous tubule lumen together with swelling and vacuolization in the cytoplasm of some spermatogonia; these effects occured in a dose-dependent manner. Immunohistochemical staining showed evidence of apoptosis, including caspase-3, caspase-9, Bax and increased DNA fragmentation was detected via a terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick-end labeling assay. In conclusion, the results show that chronic amiodarone treatment causes dose-dependent degenerative and apoptotic effects on rat testes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Karadeniz Technical University, Trabzon, Turkey; Department of Pediatric Emergency, Faculty of Medicine, Cukurova University, Adana, Turkey. Electronic address: kaganozkaya@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Ahmet Kağan
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Özkaya
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Cardiology, Faculty of Medicine, Karadeniz Technical University, Trabzon, Turkey. Electronic address: embiyadilber@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Embiya
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dilber
authors.affiliation: Department of Histology and Embryology, School of Vocational Health Service, Celal Bayar University, Manisa, Turkey. Electronic address: serengurgen@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Seren Gülşen
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Gürgen
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, Karadeniz Technical University, Trabzon, Turkey. Electronic address: omerkutlu@ktu.edu.tr.
authors.forename: Ömer
authors.initials: Ö
authors.lastname: Kutlu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, Karadeniz Technical University, Trabzon, Turkey. Electronic address: acansu2011@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cansu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Cardiology, Faculty of Medicine, Karadeniz Technical University, Trabzon, Turkey. Electronic address: esraaa.1988@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Yusuf
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gedik
mesh_terms: D000638:Amiodarone / Q000633:toxicity*; D000818:Animals; D000889:Anti-Arrhythmia Agents / Q000633:toxicity*; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D053938:DNA Fragmentation; D008297:Male; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013093:Spermatogonia / Q000187:drug effects; D013737:Testis / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D000889:Anti-Arrhythmia Agents; D000638:Amiodarone
keywords: Amiodarone; Apoptosis; Side effects; Testis