Ibuprofen can alter human testicular physiology

A team of researchers from Denmark and France has found that taking regular doses of the pain reliever ibuprofen over a long period of time can lead to a disorder in men called compensated hypogonadism.

 To learn about the impacts of the popular anti-inflammation drug Ibuprofen on male fertility when taken for long periods of time, the researchers asked 31 men between the ages of 18 and 35 to take 600 milligrams (three tablets) a day of the drug for six weeks. Other volunteers were given a placebo. Over the course of the study, the volunteers were tested to see what impact the drug had on their bodies.

The researchers report that just two weeks into the study, they found that all of the volunteers had an increase in luteinizing hormones, which the male body uses to regulate the production of testosterone. The increase indicated that the drug was causing problems in certain cells in the testicles, preventing them from producing testosterone, which is, of course, needed to produce sperm cells.

Change caused the pituitary gland to respond by producing more of another hormone, which forced the body to produce more testosterone. The net result was that overall testosterone levels remained constant, but the body was overstressing to compensate for the detrimental impact of the Ibuprofen-hypogonadism. Compensated hypogonadism can cause a temporary reduction in the production of sperm cells, reducing fertility.
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Powerful potential pain reliever drug

Pain signals travel from the injured area to spinal cord and to the brain, chronic pain is different from typical pain. Chronic pain is an experience of continuous pain even after an injury heals and it may last for weeks. The pain may be sharp or dull, causing a burning or aching sensation in the affected areas. It may be steady or intermittent.

Chronic pain occurred when nerves in the central nervous system are damaged, it can occur in any part of the body. Some of the most common types of chronic pain are: headache, post-trauma pain, lower back pain, arthritis pain, neurogenic pain and psychogenic pain.

The synthetic compound, called UKH-1114, is effective at relieving neuropathic pain in injured mice as a drug widely used for pain relief called gabapentin, but it works at a much lower dose, with longer duration of action.

UKH1114 binds to a receptor on cells throughout the central nervous system called the sigma 2 receptor. Researchers tested UKH-1114 on mice with nerve damage and found that it alleviated pain at a much lower dose and was effective much longer.
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