P-52: Acyclovir Induced Sperm and Hormonal Disorders in Male Rats

Background: Acyclovir is asynthetic purin nucleoside analog,which has been reported to be very effective against the treatment of herpes simplex and varicella zoster infections. Acyclovir is known to be toxic to gonads, but available literature fails to provide the indepth analyses of damage.The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of Acyclovir on DNA damage and nuclear maturation of rat sperm. 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 cauda epididymis were removed surgically and placed in 5 ml ham’s F10 medium (prewarmed) and incubated for 30 minutes, 5% Co2, 37°C in Co2 incubator to allow the spermatozoa to swim out. The spermatozoal suspension was analyzed for sperm motility, concentration in the cauda epididymis, viability and sperm chromatin quality and DNA integrity was assessed by Aniline Blue and Acridine Orange staining following sperm sample. Serum testosterone level was determined by electrochemiluminescence. Results: This study confirmed that treated by Acyclovir had significant decrease the testosterone.This study showed that treated by Acyclovir had significant decrease the testosterone level in plasma. Treatment of male rat with Acyclovir caused significant decrease in sperm count, motility, and viability, while abnormal sperms increased as compared to control. These changes were associated with significant increase in DNA damage and chromatin abnormality in the cauda epididymal spermatozoa as evidenced by Acridine Orange (AO) and Aniline Blue staining respectively. Conclusion: Taking collectively, the present results highly support the idea that Acyclovir induced hormonal and testicular toxicity with adverse effect on DNA and maturation of nucleous.