BACKGROUND: High compliance antiretroviral drug formulations have often paralleled the uptake of an alcohol drinking lifestyle among male populations of Sub-Sahara African region with limited exploration on the combinational effects to reproductive health. Therefore, this study investigates the in-vivo effects of the single-pill antiretroviral drug Atripla® and ethanol co-administration on androgen receptor immunoreactivity (AR-ir) of rat caput epididymis tissues.
METHODS: Thirty-two adult male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly assigned into four groups of eight rats each. The control group received distilled water only (vehicle), while groups ATp, E and ATpE received Atripla® only, 6% ethanol only, both Atripla® and 6% ethanol respectively. After ninety days treatment, the rats were euthanised and epididymides were harvested for histology. Atripla® was given at a dose of 27.5 mg/Kg via flavoured gelatine cubes while ethanol and vehicle were given ad libitum. Measurement of connective tissue area fraction, epididymal tubular diameter, area and epithelial height were conducted. Blood samples were collected to measure serum testosterone concentrations. Quantitative analysis of principal cell nuclei AR-ir was done using Image J® software.
RESULTS: Inflammatory infiltrates, fibrosis and increased luminal debris were observed in treatment groups sections, with alterations being mild, moderate and severe in ATp, ATpE and E group respectively. Group E had significantly reduced epididymal tubular diameter and epithelial height values (P<0.001), while all morphometric values for ATp and ATpE groups were comparable to group C. Weak and significantly reduced AR-ir was observed in the tissues of all treatment groups compared to the study control group (P<0.05, ANOVA). Group E had the least AR-ir percentage value followed by EATp and ATp respectively. Changes in testosterone levels among the treatment groups were not significant.
CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that tissue alterations caused by Atripla® and ethanol co-administration are detrimental to epididymis function. However, the mild effects of Atripla® only treatment observed signal success of single-pill therapy in the mitigation of adverse effects. The possible ameliorative interaction of Atripla® and ethanol observed warrants further investigation.