Introduction: The synthetic opioid tramadol works on the brain and spinal cord to lessen pain in adults. It is applied therapeutically in order to relieve moderate to severe pain that other painkillers are unable to relieve. Even so, it has the potential to become addictive and habit-forming.
Aim of the Work: Our present investigation aimed to explore the effects of three different therapeutic and narcotic drug-addicts doses of tramadol, through three different durations, using two different modes of administration on testicular structure.
Materials and Methods: For 10, 20, and 30 days, 120 male adult rats (Rattus norvegicus) were divided into control and treatment groups and administered varied dosages of tramadol (20 mg, 40 mg, and 80 mg/kg/day, i.p. and oral). For the ultrastructural study, tissue from the testicles was collected.
Results: Tramadol doses of 40 and 80 mg/kg were administered by either i.p. injection or oral treatment for 20 and 30 days caused significant histopathological degenerative changes on rat's testes. The most common findings were alterations on the cellular membranes combined with apoptotic nuclei, vacuolated mitochondria and cytoplasmic vacuoles with degeneration of cells matrices. It also led to ruptures of nuclear and cell membranes with exudation of nuclear matrix, degeneration of the rough endoplasmic reticulum, Smooth endoplasmic reticulum proliferation, cellular necrosis and degeneration of mitochondrial cristae. There were degenerated Leyding cells with large vacuoles and enlarged Sertoli cells.
Conclusion: These findings might provide a reasonable justification for the delayed or even complete infertility linked to tramadol abuse, which may highlight the need for developing a national awareness campaign to highlight the risks of tramadol abuse on sexual functions in order to enact more stringent regulations and laws against tramadol abuse on both therapeutic and narcotic-addict levels.