In this study, we examined the adverse consequences of prolonged treatment with sildenafil and/or clomipramine (CLO) on the hepatic, cardiac and testicular tissues of rats. Additionally, we investigated the potential effects of treatment discontinuation. To this end, 60 adult male rats were randomly assigned into six groups and were orally treated with 4.5 mg sildenafil /kg BW (SLD) and 9 mg/ kg BW (SHD), 2.25 mg CLO/kg BW (CLO), 4.5 mg sildenafil/kg BW + 2.25 mg CLO/kg BW (SLD-CLO) and 9 mg sildenafil/kg BW + 2.25 mg CLO/kg BW (SHD-CLO) while the control rats received 0.5 ml distilled water for 8 weeks. Then, five rats from each group were sacrificed and the other five rats were left untreated for another four weeks to recover from the drug treatment. Long-term administration of sildenafil and/or CLO led to oxidative stress, inflammation and structural changes in the liver, heart and testis, reduction in sperm count and motility, an increase in abnormalities, and a reduction in serum testosterone, FSH and LH levels. All tested parameters returned to the normal state following the four-week discontinuation of sildenafil. Additionally, all the alterations caused by long-term administration of CLO, SLD-CLO and SHD-CLO were significantly improved during the recovery period.
Keywords: clomipramine; fertility; oxidative stress; recovery; sildenafil.
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