Prolonged paracetamol use by pregnant women may
reduce testosterone production in unborn baby boys,
research has found.
Researchers at the Medical Research Council (MRC)
Centre for Reproductive Health at the University of
Edinburgh say their findings could help to explain
reported links between paracetamol use in pregnancy
and reproductive health problems in young boys.
Paracetamol is the primary medicine used for
managing pain and fever during pregnancy.
The authors recommend that expectant mothers should
follow existing guidelines that the painkiller be
taken at the lowest effective dose for the shortest
possible time.
Testosterone, produced in the testicles, is crucial
for life-long male health. Reduced exposure to the
hormone in the womb has been linked to an increased
risk of infertility, testicular cancer and
undescended testicles.
The study tested the effect of paracetamol on
testosterone production in mice that carried grafts
of human testicular tissue. These grafts have been
shown to mimic how the developing testes grow and
function during pregnancy.
Scientists gave the mice a typical daily dose of
paracetamol – over a period of either 24 hours or
seven days. They measured the amount of testosterone
produced by the human tissue an hour after the final
dose of paracetamol.
They found there was no effect on testosterone
production following 24 hours of paracetamol
treatment. After seven days of exposure, however,
the amount of testosterone was reduced by 45 per
cent.
The team say further research is required to
establish the mechanism by which paracetamol might
have this effect.
Dr Rod Mitchell, a Wellcome Trust Intermediate
Clinical Research Fellow at the University of
Edinburgh, said:
“This study adds to existing evidence that prolonged
use of paracetamol in pregnancy may increase the
risk of reproductive disorders in male babies.
The study is published in the journal Science
Translational Medicine. It is funded by the Wellcome
Trust, the British Society of Paediatric
Endocrinology and Diabetes and the Medical Research
Council.
For more information
S. van den Driesche, J. Macdonald, R. A. Anderson,
Z. C. Johnston, T. Chetty, L. B. Smith, C. McKinnell,
A. Dean, N. Z. Homer, A. Jorgensen, M. E.
Camacho-Moll, R. M. Sharpe, R. T. Mitchell,
Prolonged exposure to acetaminophen reduces
testosterone production by the human fetal testis in
a xenograft model.
Sci. Transl. Med. 7, 288ra80 (2015).
DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aaa4097
Centre for Reproductive Health
The University of Edinburgh.
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