Long-Term Impact of Immunosuppressants at Therapeutic Doses on Male Reproductive System in Unilateral Nephrectomized Rats: A Comparative Study
Figure 3
Levels of sex hormones and gonadotropins after treatment with cyclosporine, tacrolimus, or sirolimus in rats subjected to unilateral nephrectomy. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 5 experiment groups of eight animals each. All animals except for the control group were subjected to left unilateral nephrectomy. After recovery from surgery, animals received daily oral gavage of either drinking water or one of the drugs diluted in water for 8 weeks. Blood was collected at the end of the study, and sex hormones (testosterone and estradiol) as well as gonadotropins (luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, and prolactin) were measured in serum samples by ELISA. UN, unilateral nephrectomy; CsA, cyclosporine; FK506, tacrolimus; Rapa, sirolimus. compared with UN group; compared with UN+FK506 group.
