Endocrine Abstracts

The male gonads have been exposed to various degrees of toxicants over the years and these substances affect fertility success rate. The present study investigates the effects of alcohol and/or cannabinol administration on reproductive parameters and biochemical profile in male Wistar rats. Twenty-five Wistar male rats were divided into five groups of five rats each. Group 1 served as the control, group 2 was administered methanol, 5 mg/kg BW (vehicle for cannabinol), group 3 was treated with alcohol (3 g/kg BW as 25% v/v), group 4 was administered cannabinol (10 mg/kg BW), and group 5 was treated with alcohol (3 g/kg BW as 25% v/v) plus cannabinol (10 mg/kg BW) for a period of 8 weeks via oral administration. Ethical approval was obtained from National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD) and the experiment conducted was in conformance with guidelines for experimental procedures as set forth in the Declaration of Helsinki on the Guiding Principals in the care and Use of Animals. At the end of the experiment, blood was collected via the retro-orbital sinus and allowed to clot to obtain serum for hormonal assay (FSH, LH, and testosterone). The animals were anesthetized and dissected; the testes together with the epididymides were harvested and the caudal epididymis was removed for sperm characteristics (motility, count). The lipid peroxidation was estimated on the concentration of thio-babituric acid reactive product, malondialdehyde (MDA), the testes of both the control and the treated groups were fixed for histological examination. There were significant reductions (P<0.05) in sperm profile, serum levels of gonadotrophins (FSH and LH) and testosterone in groups treated with alcohol and/or cannabinol in comparison with the control group; a significant increase (P<0.05) in MDA was observed in the alcohol and cannabinol treated rats when compared with the control. Alcohol and/or cannabinol altered reproductive function is associated with reduction in hormone profile and increased in the MDA level. The testicular histology showed reduction in spermatogonia and incomplete maturation Thus, the results of the present study depict that administration of alcohol and/or cannabinol affects reproductive parameters through oxidative stress as measured by MDA and altered hormone profile in experimental rats.