Prenatal and neonatal exposure of male rat pups to cimetidine but not ranitidine adversely affects subsequent adult sexual functioning.

Cimetidine, ranitidine, or water was administered to pregnant rats from the 12th day of pregnancy through weaning at 21 days of age. The effects of such treatments upon the male progeny were evaluated. Anogenital distance and indices, measures of masculinity, were found to be reduced (p less than 0.05) in pups of cimetidine-exposed dams but not in the pups obtained from either the ranitidine or water controls. In addition, at 55 days and 110 days of age, the testes and ventral prostate-seminal vesicles (androgen-responsive tissues) of the rats exposed to cimetidine were smaller (p less than 0.05) than those of the other two groups. Moreover, at both 55 and 110 days of age, the testosterone levels were reduced (p less than 0.05) in these same pups. Despite the fact that the cimetidine-exposed animals had reduced testosterone levels compared with the levels of the other two groups, the luteinizing hormone levels did not differ among the three groups. Finally, both before and after exogenous androgen replacement, the sexual behavior of the cimetidine-exposed animals was diminished when compared with that of the other two groups.