Effect of Chronic Administration of Caffeine on Plasma TestosteroneLevel and Body Mass Index in Male Wistar Rats

Abstract

Objectives: Caffeine is one of the most frequently ingested pharmacological agents
contained in several beverages and food items. With some positive biological effects on
the body system, little knowledge is known of its effect on reproductive parameters. This
present study therefore aimed to determine the effect of aqueous solution of caffeine on
serum testosterone level and body mass index (BMI) in male Wistar rats.
Methods: Twenty-one (21) male Wistar rats with an average weight of 250 g ± 20g were
obtained for this study and randomly grouped into three (3) of seven (7) rats each. Group
A, served as the control and received 0.5ml of normal saline while groups B and C served
as test groups and received orally 0.38 mg/kg (low dose) and 1.14mg/kg (high dose) of
caffeine respectively, once daily for 14 days.
Results: There was a significant increase (p<0.05) in body weight, BMI, and plasma
testosterone levels of high dose (HD) and low dose (LD) compared to the control, while
there was no significant (p>0.05) change in length of the animals compared to the control.
Conclusion: Long-time consumption of caffeine has the potential to stimulate the
production of testosterone to possibly increase sex drive perhaps via the hypothalamicpituitary-testicular axis, and also increase BMI.