Biol Reprod Keystone Symposia Conference on Frontiers in Reproductive Biology & Regulation of Fertility.
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Biology of Reproduction, Vol 20, 1039-1044, Copyright © 1979 by Society for the Study of Reproduction

Evidence that the Effects of Methadone and Marihuana on Male Reproductive Organs are Mediated at Different Sites in Rats

VISHNUDUTT PUROHIT 1, HARI H. SINGH 1, , and BALWANT S. AHLUWALIA 1

1 Endocrine Research Laboratory, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Howard University Medical School, Washington, D.C. 20059


This study investigated the sites of action of methadone, Dgr9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Dgr9-THC) and cannabinol (CBN) in male reproductive organs using hypophysectomized (hypox), castrated (CD) and sham operated (SO) rats. Treatments were given as follows: the SO rats received either methadone, Dgr9-THC, or CBN; the hypox received hCG plus the drugs; the CD rats received Dgr9-THC or CBN plus testosterone (T) or dihydrotestosterone (DHT). Blood plasma T and DHT levels were quantitated in the SO and hypox rats and weights of ventral prostates (VP) and seminal vesicles (SV) were recorded in all groups. In addition, the effect of CBN on the 5-alpha reductase in the VP was determined. The results of the study show that methadone, Dgr9-THC, or CBN treatment significantly decreased (P<0.01) T and DHT levels and the weights of VP and SV in the SO rats. In the hypox group treated with hCG plus Dgr9-THC, the stimulatory effect of hCG on VP and SV weights was significantly (P<0.01) blocked, but T and DHT levels were unaffected. Methadone treatment had no effect on either VP and SV weights or T and DHT levels in the hypox rats. The effect of CBN on the hypox rats was similar to that of Dgr9-THC in all respects except that in CBN treatment plasma DHT levels were significantly decreased (P<0.01). In vitro and in vivo treatment demonstrated that CBN did not appear to have any effect on 5-alpha reductase in the VP. In the CD rats, Dgr9-THC and CBN blocked the stimulatory effect of T and DHT on VP and SV weights. It is concluded that methadone affects the male accessory sex organs indirectly by influencing the hypothalamic hypophyseal axis whereas Dgr9-THC and CBN effects appear to be both direct at the tissue level and indirect at the hypothalamic-hypophyseal site.

Note:
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Supported by National Institute on Drug Abuse grant DA 01157.

Submitted on October 11, 1978
Accepted on January 5, 1979






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Copyright © 1979 by the Society for the Study of Reproduction.