Assessment of reproductive toxicity profile of ramipril in male wistar rats

Background: Several adverse effects have been associated with the long-time use of antihypertensive drugs in which caution should be taken when administering them.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of 28-days oral administration of ramipril on reproductive functions of male rats.

Methods: Twenty (20) male rats (120 - 150 g) were randomly divided into 4 groups of 5 rats per group and treated orally with distilled-water, 5 mg/kg, 10 mg/kg and 20 mg/kg of ramipril, respectively for 28-days. On day 29, 2 ml of blood samples were collected from the rats in each group through ocular puncture into clean test-tubes and centrifuged at 2500 rpm for 5 mins to obtain the serum for the analysis of testosterone and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) levels, using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique. All the male rats were later sacrificed by cervical dislocation and the testes removed along with the epididymis for semen analysis.

Results: Oral administration of ramipril produced a significant (P<0.05) decrease in levels of testosterone of the treated rats at all tested doses used and a non-significant (P>0.05) increase in Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) at 5 and 10 mg/kg compared to the distilled water group. There was also a decrease in sperm count, sperm motility and sperm morphology of the treated male rats.

Conclusion: Based on the findings from this study, it can be stated that ramipril may adversely affect fertility as
seen by decrease in testosterone levels, sperm count, sperm motility and sperm morphology in the treated rats.