Ibuprofen affects the hormonal balance in adult men and could result in fertility problem, a study published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United State of America has said.
This conclusion was reached after a small sample of young men developed a hormonal condition that typically begins, if at all, during middle age following an intake of ibuprofen doses commonly used by athletes.
The study shows that ibuprofen use results in selective transcriptional repression of endocrine cells in the human testis and increasing evidence from recent years also shows that exposure to analgesics can generate negative endocrine and reproductive effects during fetal life.
Ibuprofen, paracetamol, and aspirin the so-called “over-the-counter” mild analgesics (hereafter simply called “analgesics”), are among the most commonly used pharmaceutical compounds in the general population for aches, pains, fever, and arthritis and heavily used by athletes.
According to the researchers, concern has been raised over increased male reproductive disorders in the Western world, and the disruption of male endocrinology has been suggested to play a central role.
Several studies have shown that mild analgesics exposure during fetal life is associated with antiandrogenic effects and congenital malformations, but the effects on the adult man remain largely unknown, says study.
According to the researchers, the study recruited 31 healthy men, age 18–35, the subjects were assigned to either a placebo (17 subjects) or ibuprofen (14 subjects) group; the groups were matched for age, height, and weight.
One group of subjects received ibuprofen, 2 × 600 mg/d, (Ibumetin; Nycomed Denmark Aps) for a period of 6 weeks, from 14 d before to 4 weeks after the electrical stimulation exercise.
For the men taking ibuprofen, within 14 days, their luteinizing hormones – which are secreted by the pituitary gland and stimulate the testicles to produce testosterone — became coordinated with the level of ibuprofen circulating in their blood. At the same time, the ratio of testosterone to luteinizing hormones decreased a sign of dysfunctional testicles.
This hormonal imbalance produced compensated hypogonadism, a condition associated with impaired fertility, depression and increased risk for cardiovascular events, including heart failure and stroke, says researchers.
According to an important warning on ibuprofen by Medline plus says that people who take nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) (other than aspirin) such as ibuprofen may have a higher risk of having a heart attack or a stroke than people who do not take these medications.
These events may happen without warning and may cause death and the risk may be higher for people who take NSAIDs for a long time.
The researchers further revealed that through a clinical trial with young men exposed to ibuprofen, we show that the analgesic resulted in the clinical condition named “compensated hypogonadism,” a condition prevalent among elderly men and associated with reproductive and physical disorders.
In the men, luteinizing hormone (LH) and ibuprofen plasma levels were positively correlated, and the testosterone/LH ratio decreased. Using adult testis explants exposed or not exposed to ibuprofen, we demonstrate that the endocrine capabilities from testicular Leydig and Sertoli cells, including testosterone production, were suppressed through transcriptional repression.
This effect was also observed in a human steroidogenic cell line. Our data demonstrate that ibuprofen alters the endocrine system via selective transcriptional repression in the human testes, thereby inducing compensated hypogonadism.
Anthonia Obokoh
