Escitalopram, an antidepressant, stimulates steroidogenesis in mouse Leydig cells

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are usually the first line of treatment for major depressive and generalized anxiety disorders. SSRIs have been shown to affect various aspects of male fertility including steroid production. The present work was conducted to investigate the in vitro effect of the SSRI, escitalopram on Leydig cell steroidogenesis and expression of steroidogenic enzymes. We measured the steroid production by Leydig cells treated with escitalopram using Chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay. RNA and protein levels of steroidogenic pathway-related enzymes were measured by qRT-PCR and western blot respectively. Furthermore, MTT assay was performed to assess the viability of escitalopram-treated Leydig cells. This is the first study showing the direct effect of escitalopram on Leydig cell steroidogenesis. Higher doses of escitalopram increased the secretion of testosterone and progesterone compared to vehicle control. Escitalopram also modulated the expression of various steroidogenic enzymes at the mRNA and protein levels. Cell viability was decreased by escitalopram in a dose-dependent manner. Our results show that escitalopram stimulates steroid production by Leydig cells which could possibly be due to increase in extracellular serotonin levels. This indicates that escitalopram treatment for males may not have adverse effect on male steroidogenesis.