Short-term and high-dose amiodarone use does not impair testicular histology in rats

Abstract

Amiodarone, an antiarrhythmic drug approved for use in patients who survive cardiac arrest, has been associated with infiltration or inflammatory changes in various tissues. Drug's accumulation within organs after long-term use was sug¬gested to cause pathological changes. It was also suggested that testicular dysfunc¬tion might result from prolonged amiodarone treatment. We planned this study to show if any short-term effects of amiodarone on testes. For this purpose, five rats were injected intraperitoneally with highdose amiodarone for ten days. The histo-logical examination of the testes removed on the eleventh day revealed no patho¬logical changes. The results have led us to conclude that the toxic effects of amiod¬arone on testes might result from only long-term administration.