Objective To evaluate spermatogenesis in rats chronically exposed to finasteride, as the recent use of finasteride in young men to prevent hair loss has raised concerns about chronic use and fertility. Materials and methods Male Wistar rats (4 months old)were selected and divided into two groups. Group 1 (17 rats) received a finasteride suspension of 2 mg/kg/ day in saline solution, 5 days/week for 10 months; group 2 (eight rats of the same age) were treated with placebo for the same period. At the end of the exposure the testes were weighed and processed for histological analysis. Spermatogenesis was evaluated as the mean number of seminiferous tubules with and without spermatozoids in their lumen, in five random fields on the same slide. Student's t-test was used to assess differences in the groups.
Oral ingestion of DHEA on a chronic basis in the rat increases serum DHEAS and total testosterone without any evident change in prostate weight or histology.
Chronic administration of DHEA in the present dose did not show any detectable effect on the quantitative and qualitative analyses of spermatogenesis in rats.
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