P-51: A Purine Nucleoside Analogue_Acyclovir Impairs Testicular Functions in Male Rats

Background: Acyclovir (ACV) is a synthetic purine nucleoside analog drived from guanosine. ACV possesses antiviral activity against Herpes Simplex Virus types 1 and 2 (HSV-1 and HSV-2 ), Varicella Zoster virus (VZV) , Epstein Barr virus (EBV) and Cytomegalovirus (CMV). ACV exert its effects by interfering with DNA synthesis,thus inhibiting viral replication. ACV is khown to be toxic to gonads,then the aim of the present study was to evaluate effect of ACV on the testicular functions of rat. Materials and Methods: In this study Thirty-two adult male wistar rats (220 ± 20g) were randomly divided into four groups (n=8 each) with one group serving as control sham (distilled water i.p.), in the drug treated groups Acyclovir administered (4, 16, 48 mg/kg/day i.p.) for 15 days. All rats were sacrificed by Co2 inhalation 18 days after the last injection and the testis was removed and fixed in10% neutural buffered formalin and processed for paraffin embedding. Five µm thick sections were stained with H&E. Light microscopical analysis was made to evaluate the structural changes induced in the testis. Results: Histological and histomorphometrical study confirmed that Acyclovir induced histopatological changes in the rats testis such as decrease in seminiferous tubules diameter (STD), increase interstitial connective tissue between seminiferous tubules and negatively reduced tubule differentiation index (TDI) and spermatogenesis in the somniferous tubules.These changes were observed more effectively at high dose. Conclusion: Taking collectively, the present results highly support the idea that Acyclovir has adverse effect on testicular morphology and function.