Toxic effects of ketamine on reproductive system via disrupting hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular axis.

OBJECTIVE

In this paper, we focused on the toxic effect of ketamine on the reproductive system in male rats and its underlying mechanisms.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Rats were randomly allocated into four groups (n=10), i.e. a control group and 3 ketamine groups (high-dose, mid-dose, low-dose). Animals in the ketamine groups received an intraperitoneal injection of ketamine (20, 40 or 60 mg/kg) every 3 days for 7 times. Control rats were injected with normal saline instead. To investigate the disruption potential on the hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular (HPG) axis, the relative hormone levels in serum and mRNA expressions for some reproduction-related genes in reproductive organs were evaluated.

RESULTS

Ketamine significantly decreased the serum concentrations of testosterone (T), inhibin B, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH). Meanwhile, the mRNA expressions of GnRH in the hypothalamus, GnRH receptor, LH-β and FSH-β in the pituitary, and LH receptor and FSH receptor in testes were also significantly inhibited by ketamine compared with the control (p<0.01).

CONCLUSIONS

These results demonstrated that the ketamine had a toxic effect on the reproductive system via breaking the HPG equilibrium.