Effects of long-term treatment with fluoxetine and venlafaxine on rat isolated vas deferens

1 Antidepressant therapy is considered as one of the factors leading to male infertility.

2 In this study, the effects of long-term treatment with fluoxetine or venlafaxine were investigated on electrical field stimulation (EFS, 1–64 Hz), noradrenaline (10⁻⁸ to 10⁻⁴ m), serotonin (10⁻⁸ to 10⁻⁴ m), adenosine 5′-triphosphate [ATP (10⁻⁸ to 10⁻⁴ m)] and 80 mm KCl-induced contractile responses in the epididymal and prostatic portions of rat isolated vas deferens strips.

3 Serotonin-induced contractile responses were significantly increased in the epididymal portion of the vas deferens obtained from the fluoxetine-treatment group, whereas in the prostatic portion there was no change. However, venlafaxine treatment had no effect on serotonin responses in the either portion of the vas deferens. Both fluoxetine and venlafaxine treatment significantly inhibited ATP-evoked contractions of the prostatic and epididymal portions of the rat vas deferens, but had no effect on EFS, noradrenaline- and KCl-evoked contractions of the vas deferentia in both portions.

4 In conclusion, these results suggest that chronic treatment with fluoxetine and venlafaxine affects vas deferens motility. Purinoceptors may, at least in part, responsible for the impaired motility in chronic treatment of venlafaxine and fluoxetine.