FREE NEJM E-TOC    HOME   |   SUBSCRIBE   |   CURRENT ISSUE   |   PAST ISSUES   |   COLLECTIONS   |   Search Term  Advanced Search

Sign in | Get NEJM's E-Mail Table of Contents — Free | Subscribe

Previous Volume 300:1012-1015 May 3, 1979 Number 18 Next

	Add to Personal Archive Add to Citation Manager Notify a Friend E-mail When Cited PubMed Citation

Abstract

We studied the effect of cimetidine therapy (1200 mg per day by mouth for nine weeks) on the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis of seven men. There was a 43 per cent mean reduction in sperm count after therapy. The luteinizing hormone response to luteinizing hormone releasing factor was also reduced, and a statistically significnat rise in plasma testosterone occurred, although it was less than that before therapy. Gonadotropin responses to provocative clomiphene stimulation were inadequate when compared with those of controls. Cimetidine did not affect the responses of thyroid-stimulating hormone, prolactin, growth hormone and thyroxine to thyrotropin releasing factor. Caution is advisable in administration of cimetidine for prolonged periods to young men.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Nielsen, T. L., Hagen, C., Wraae, K., Brixen, K., Petersen, P. H., Haug, E., Larsen, R., Andersen, M. (2007). Visceral and Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue Assessed by Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Relation to Circulating Androgens, Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin, and Luteinizing Hormone in Young Men. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 92: 2696-2705 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Anand, S, Van Thiel, D. (1982). Prenatal and neonatal exposure to cimetidine results in gonadal and sexual dysfunction in adult males. Science 218: 493-494 [Abstract]