Oxidative Effect of Metronidazole on The Testes of Wistar Rats

There are growing evidences that oxidative damage to the human spermatozoa membrane is an important pathophysiological mechanism in male fertility and following reports by previous researchers on the toxic effects of metronidazole on testicular functions, this study is designed to investigate further its direct oxidative effects and that of the introduction of vitatmin E to metronidazole treated rats. It also looked at the natural reversal effects on abstinence from medication for 8weeks. A total of 105 adult male and 50 female wistar rats weighing 170±10g (70-90 day old) were used for the experiment. The rats were randomly divided into a control and experimental groups. There were four major groups with 5 subgroups consisting of 5 rats each. Varying doses of metronidazole were used depending on the experiment. Experiment 1; animals were fed with 7.5mg/kg of metronidazole, experiment 2; fed with 15mg/kg of metronidazole, experiment 3; administered with 200mg/kg of metronidazole and experiment 4; fed with 400mg/kg of metronidazole. Each experimental has 5 sub-groups; A control, B; group fed with the experimental dose, C; experimental dose with vitamin E, D; experimental dose with testosterone, E; fed with experimental dose, vitamin E and testosterone and sub-group F, a reversal group which was left for 8weeks after cessation of treatment. At the end of the experiment, animals were scarified and the antioxidant effects of metronidazole were investigated using malonildialdehyde concentration and catalase activity. Results showed that metronidazole at the therapeutic dose of 7.5mg/kg did not have significant negative effect on the testis in all the parameters assessed. At the dose of15mgkg, 200mg/kg and 400mg/kg, there was significant increase in lipid peroxidation and catalase activity. The results of this study indicate that metronidazole administration (15mg/kg, 200mg/kg or 400 mg/kg), for 8weeks, caused an oxidative stress on the testes of male rats.