The Effects of Long-Term Administration of Tramadol on Epididymal Sperm Quality and Testicular Tissue in Mice

Objective- The objective of the present work was to investigate the effects of tramadol administration on sperm quality and testicular tissue in mice. Design- Experimental study Animal- Sixty-three mature male mice Procedures- Mice were randomly divided into three experimental groups (n=۲۱) and the following treatments were intraperitoneally administered, ۳ times a week, for ۶ weeks: Control male mice were given physiological saline. Two other groups were given different doses of tramadol including ۱۰ mg/kg (group T۱) and ۲۰ mg/kg (group T۲). Seven mice in each group were sacrificed at weeks ۳, ۶ and ۱۲ after the beginning of treatments. Left testes were removed for epiddydimal sperm quality and histopathological evaluations. Results- The results showed that sperm concentration, motility and vitality in group T۱ and T۲ were significantly decreased (PMicroscopic examinations revealed that tramadol in both doses damaged the testicular tissue at weeks ۳ and ۶, so that more degenerative changes were observed in group T۲ at week ۶. Most of histopathological parameters returned to the normal structure in groups T۱ and T۲, at week ۱۲. Conclusion and clinical relevance- According to the results of present study, it can be concluded that long-term administration of tramadol have adverse effects on sperm quality and testicular tissues and these effects are dose dependant. Also the negative effects of tramadol on testes are reversible.

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Key words- Tramadol , Testis , histopathology , sperm quality , Mice