Effects of chronic amiodarone treatment on rat testis.

Abstract Amiodaroneis a potent agent used to treat tachyarrhythmias, which are especially refractory to other medications, in both adults and children. Although widely used as an antiarrhythmic drug, amiodaronecauses many serious adverse effects that limit its use. This study investigated the possible morphological and apoptotic effects of amiodaroneon rat testes. Amiodaronewas administered to male Sprague-Dawley rats at doses of 20 or 200 mg/kg/day for 14 days. A histopathological examination of testicular tissue revealed the presence of inflammatory cells in the seminiferous tubulelumen together with swelling and vacuolization in the cytoplasm of some spermatogonia; these effects occured in a dose-dependent manner. Immunohistochemical staining showed evidence of apoptosis, including caspase-3, caspase-9, Bax and increased DNA fragmentation was detected via a terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferasedUTP nick-end labeling assay. In conclusion, the results show that chronic amiodaronetreatment causes dose-dependent degenerative and apoptotic effects on rat testes.