Antifertility effect of sulfapridine in male rats

Salicylazosufapyridine (SASP), a drug used to treat uclerative colitis, reportedly depresses the fertility in males. But the mechanism od the action is still unknown. To make clear the infertility mechanism of sulphapyridine (SP), metabolite of SASP, male rats were force-fed SP (200mg kg). Extant of fertility was evaluated by the number of foetuses. Spermatogenesis was ecaluated by the flow cytometric DNA analysis of the testicular tissue. The number of ofetuses decreased significantly with SP treatment for 5 weeks and recovered 5 weeks after SP withdrawal. These data suggested that SP has the effect on the testis f suppresing spermatogenesis and that at least the testis is one of the target organs of SP-induced infertility.