Evaluation of some reproductive hormonal profile following the administration of varied doses of nicotine

Abstract

Background: This study is aimed at determining the effect of nicotine on male fertility by evaluating some reproductive hormone parameters of male Wistar rat such as serum testosterone, luteinizing hormone (LH), prolactin and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH).
Methodology: A total of 20 adult male rats were randomly divided into four groups, the test groups were administered with 0.2 mg/100 g, 0.4/100 g and 0.6/100 g body weight of nicotine base daily for 30 days using a polythene catheter orally while the control were administered with 2 ml 0.9% physiological saline.
Results: Nicotine caused a significant reduction (P < 0.05) and (P < 0.01) in the mean values of the hormones of the test group compared with  control. Serum testosterone concentration of 4.8 } 1.30 (P < 0.05), 4.0 } 2.25 (P < 0.01), 0.6 } 0.64** were recorded for groups 1, 2 and 3 respectively. For FSH the significant values were 0.26 } 0.11 (P < 0.05), 0.20 } 0.12 (P < 0.01) in groups 2 and 3, whilst prolactin showed a significant reduction of 0.08 } 0.08 (P < 0.05) only in group 3. LH showed a significant reduction in all the test groups with values of 0.48 } 0.08 (P < 0.01), 0.24 } 0.11 (P < 0.01) 0.08 } 0.08 (P < 0.01) for groups 1, 2 and 3 respectively. The results stated are only those that showed a significant reduction at 95% confidence level when compared with the control.
Conclusion: It was concluded that nicotine exerted adverse effects on gonadotrophins secreted by the anterior pituitary with concomitant reduction in reproductive potentials of the male rat. Nicotine and  nicotine.based products should therefore be taken with caution in cases of infertility.

Key words: Fertility, gonadotrophins, prolactin, testosterone