Department of Physiology, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Remo Campus, Ikenne Remo, Ogun 234, Nigeria; Department of Pharmacology, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Remo Campus, Ikenne Remo, Ogun 234, Nigeria; Medical Student, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Remo Ca
Osonuga, I.O., Department of Physiology, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Remo Campus, Ikenne Remo, Ogun 234, Nigeria; Osonuga, O.A., Department of Pharmacology, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Remo Campus, Ikenne Remo, Ogun 234, Nigeria; Osonuga, A.A., Medical Student, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Remo Campus, Ikenne Remo, Ogun 234, Nigeria
Aim. Zidolam is an antiretroviral combination therapy consisting of zidovudine and lamivudine for the treatment of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection. The objective of this research is to investigate the relationship between oral administration of zidolam and fertility in adult male albino rats Material and Methods. Fifteen male albino rats with body weight (bwt) of 150 - 220 gm were used for the 2-phase study. Solution of the drug in sterile water was administered via oral cannula to 5 male rats each at daily dose of 1.29 mg/100 gm bwt respectively for 21 days during phase I. Phase II was a recovery study involving 5 male rats exposed to dose regimen as in phase I, and sacrificed after 21-day withdrawal of treatment. The control group of 5 male rats was given sterile water ad-libitum during the period. Results. Zidolam caused significant decrease (P< 0.05) in the progressive sperm motility, sperm count, testosterone and viability of the animals while there was no significant change in the pH of the semen and all these factors may impair fertility. Discontinuation of the drug use caused restoration of the depressed values in the recovery group. The results suggested that Zidolam could induce reversible changes in all the parameters under investigation in the treated animals. Conclusion. In conclusion, our findings demonstrated that the use of antiretroviral drugs could have deleterious effects on spermatogenesis hence cause sperm alterations which can lead to infertility even in normal subjects as the wistar rats used for the experiment were HIV -free. © 2010 Osonuga IO.