Abstract
In the last few years, a marked decrease in male fertility has been reported. Environmental factors were recently suspected for this effect. Among those factors is the misuse of drugs and in particular antibiotics. Quinolones are a group of antibacterial agents with broad-spectrum activity. Testicular impairment of some quinolone members is controversial; a matter which stimulated our attention to investigate the adverse testicular effects of the most familiar quinolone members, namely: ofloxacin, ciprofloxacin and pefloxacin. They were given to rats in doses of 72, 135 and 72 mg kg(-1) day(-1) p.o., respectively, for 15 consecutive days. Ofloxacin was also used to establish a dose-response relationship in doses of 36, 72 and 360 mg kg(-1) day(-1) p.o. for 15 consecutive days. Results revealed that ofloxacin, ciprofloxacin and pefloxacin reduced testicular LDH-X activity by 39.8%, 62.7% and 60.7%, respectively. Moreover, sperm count, motility and daily sperm production were markedly decreased. Ofloxacin induced a dose-dependent decrease in testicular LDH-X activity, sperm count and motility. Furthermore, daily sperm production showed a marked reduction which amounted to 26.1% and 40.0% following administration of ofloxacin (72, 360 mg kg(-1) day(-1) x 15 days), respectively. Moreover, administration of ofloxacin resulted in marked testicular histopathological changes. It is concluded that, ofloxacin, ciprofloxacin and pefloxacin significantly impaired both testicular function and structure in rats. (C) 2000 Academic Press.