Tramadol injection as dosage form -Induced deterioration in reproductive performance of male rabbits

Abstract

Injections are usually more expensive than tablets, but they may be required less often since they are more concentrated, whereas a person may need to take a tablet more regularly, thus consuming a large volume. when we administer a drug via oral rout ,its meant to be absorbed by stomach or intestinal mucosa ,but its so happens that, gastric acid, food ,other drugs and many other factor come into the play and retarded the drug absorption ,metabolized in intestinal mucosal cells even before it can reach to liver or target tissue(first-pass metabolism)thus decrease the effective amount reaching to circulation, Now, a drug given through injection reaches circulation at cent percent level and show prompt action which is earnestly required at the moment ,it also decrease the dose and systemic side effects . also the tablets formulation contain the excipient like filler ,diluents for the purpose of long -term stabilization ,bulking up tablet formulations making concentration of drug less in tablets and need more dose to give the therapeutic action. Tramadol is a potent analgesic effective in the treatment of mild to severe pains. However, the use of the drug can pose a threat to other organs and systems. Therefore, this study was designed to investigate the effect of tramadol injection as dosage form on reproductive parameters in male rabbits. Tenth rabbits were randomly divided into two equal groups (each group five rabbits). The first group was used as a control. The second group was used to study the effect of tramadol (50 mg/kg body weight) for six weeks. Results obtained showed that tramadol significantly (P<0.05) decreased libido (by increasing the reaction time), ejaculate volume, sperm concentration ,total sperm output, sperm motility (%), total motile sperm per ejaculate (TMS), packed sperm volume (PSV), total functional sperm fraction (TFSF), normal and live sperm and semen initial fructose. While initial hydrogen ion concentration (pH) and dead and abnormal sperm were increased (P<0.05). Live body weight (LBW) and relative weights of testes (RTW) were significantly (P<0.05) decreased. Concentrations of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) were significantly (P<0.05) increased in plasma of rabbits treated with tramadol compared with control. The study showed the harmful effects of tramadol on the reproductive performance on male rabbits. Keywords: Tramadol Injection; Rabbits; Semen; Testosterone