Distribution of tritiated cocaine in selected genital and nongenital organs following administration to male mice.

STUDY OBJECTIVE--To determine the distribution of cocaine administered to male mice in selected extragenital and genital organs and to investigate its possible binding to sperm. DESIGN--Twenty-seven sexually mature virus-free albino male mice were used in various experiments whereby following intravenous injection of tritiated cocaine hydrochloride, radioactivity was determined in several extragenital and genital organs, as well as sperm. RESULTS--Radioactivity was detected in all of the organs that were tested, and the highest concentrations per milligram of tissue were found in the kidney and epididymis. Removal of the sperm from the epididymis significantly reduced the radioactivity of the organ. The spermatozoa that were isolated on glass filters showed a linear correlation vs radioactivity (r = .93). CONCLUSIONS--Radioactivity is distributed to several organs, including the genital tract, and is found in association with sperm after in vivo administration of tritiated cocaine. These results may explain the mechanism underlying a male-mediated teratogenesis, which has been observed in animals that were exposed to cocaine, and they raise a possibility that the spermatozoa may carry cocaine into the oocyte during fertilization.