The safety of occupational exposure to inhaled anesthetics remains a concern among the medical staff in hospitals. Few reports are seen about the impact of inhaled anesthetics on the reproductive system, particularly that of males. Several clinical and basic studies on isoflurane and others suggest that inhaled anesthetics affect the reproductive system of rodents by decreasing the sperm count, inducing sperm morphological abnormality, reducing sperm motility, and changing the levels of reproductive hormones, the underlying mechanisms of which are mainly associated with the alteration of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis and DNA damage and apoptosis of reproductive cells. This article reviews the main impacts of inhaled anesthetics on the male reproductive system and the possible mechanisms.
吸入麻醉药物的安全性一直是医护人员共同关注的热点，但其对生殖系统毒性报道不多，尤其是对男性生殖系统的影响。以异氟烷为代表的多项临床及基础研究结果表明，吸入麻醉药物可通过不同机制对啮齿类动物的生殖系统产生影响，主要表现为精子数量减少，精子形态结构、活动力异常，精子畸形率增高及激素水平变化等方面。下丘脑-垂体-性腺轴变化、生殖细胞DNA损伤及凋亡增多是吸入麻醉药对生殖系统产生影响的主要机制。本文综述了吸入麻醉药物对男性生殖功能的主要影响及其可能的机制，以期为预防医护人员职业暴露产生的影响奠定理论基础。.
Keywords: desflurane; male reproductive system; reproductive hormones; sevoflurane; isoflurane.