Effect of Bicalutamide; an Antiandrogen, on Testicular Weight in Adult Rats

Objective: To study the effect of Bicalutamide on testicular weight in adult rats. Study Design: Laboratory based randomized controlled trial. Place and Duration of Study: Anatomy Department, Armed Forces Postgraduate Medical Institute (AFPGMI), Rawalpindi, Pakistan in collaboration with National Veterinary Laboratories (NVL), Islamabad, Pakistan from April to May 2008. Material and Methods: Forty adult male healthy Sprague Dawley rats with no physical deformity weighing 200300 grams were randomly divided into two groups (A and B), each consisting of 20 animals each. Group A was taken as control group and was administered 5 ml of distilled water orally daily for 24 days while group B (experimental group) was given 5 ml of distilled water daily containing bicalutamide 10 mg/kg/day for 24 days. All the animals were sacrificed on the next day after the last dose. The testes were taken out and weighed. In addition to initial and final weights of the animals, weights of right and left testes were also taken, and their average was taken as a reading for that animal. Results: Statistically significant difference was found in reduction of testicular weights in the testes of experimental group (1.112 ± 0.018 g) when compared with the control group (1.169 ± 0.011 g). Conclusion: The results obtained showed that the mean testicular weight of the testes was significantly reduced in the experimental group thus confirming that bicalutamide reduces testicular weights in the Sprague – Dawley rats.