Effect of cimetidine [tagamet] and ranitidine [zantac] on male fertility in rats

ABSTRACT

The effect of cimetidine and ranitidine on male fertility was studied. Oral administration of cimetidine in doses of 25 and 50 mg/kg b. wt. for 65 successive days significantly decreased weights of testes and accessory glands, sperm cell concentration and percentages of sperm motility and seminiferous tubules containing spermatozoa. Total abnormalities of sperms was significantly increased and characterized by headless and bent tail sperms. Oral administration of ranitidine, in doses of 5 and 10 mg/kg b. wt. for 65 successive days, significantly decreased the percentages of sperm motility and seminiferous tubules containing spermatozoa, but increased that of sperm abnormalities. A significant decrease in sperm cell concentration was included only by the large dose of the drug. The effects of both doses of cimetidine and ranitidine on the epididymal sperm characters of male rats treated for 65 successive days are still prominent even after 30 and 60 days from stopping of their administration. The effect induced by small dose of ranitidine disappeared after 60 days from stopping of its administration. Histopathologically, the oral administration of cimetidine in doses of 25 and 50 mg/kg b. wt. to male rats induced atrophy in some seminiferous tubules of the testes and in prostate glands and seminal vesicles. The epididymal ducts appeared atrophied and free from spermatozoa. On the other hand, the administration of ranitidine to male rats for 65 successive days in doses of 5 and 10 mg/kg b. wt. produced insignificant pathological changes in the testes, prostate glands and seminal vesicles