Effect of Sildenafil Citrate on Uterine Artery Doppler Indices in Non-pregnant Rabbits

Abstract

The effect of different doses of sildenafil citrate (SC) administrations on arteria (a.) uterine blood flow was investigated in healthy female rabbits. Twelve healthy non-pregnant New Zealand rabbits were used in the present study. In the first experimental group (n=6), 5 mg SC thawed in 0.9% NaCl solution was administered orally. Arteria uterina was examined with Pulsed Doppler ultrasonography at pre and post (60 minutes) SC administration. Heart rate (HR), pulsatility index (PI) and resistance index (RI) values were recorded from the a. uterina visualized with cervical channels. Similarly, the study was repeated in second experimental group (n=6) by using 10 mg SC for per animal. In the first experiment, the mean HR, PI and RI values were recorded as (223 ± 7.80 & 239 ± 15.00), (1.60 ± 0.08 & 1.63 ± 0.16) and (0.73 ± 0.02 & 0.73 ± 0.03) before and after SC administration, respectively. In the second experiment, the mean HR, PI and RI values were observed as (210 ± 15.00 & 223 ± 14.00), (1.46 ± 0.23 & 1.79 ± 0.08) and (0.68 ± 0.05 & 0.77 ± 0.01) before and after SC administration, respectively. No significant difference was between pre and post-administration Doppler parameters in both experiments (P>0.05). Consequently, no enhancing effect on the uterine perfusion was observed in oral 5 and 10 mg SC administrations per rabbit.