P-41: Effect of GnRH on Vincristine-Induced Spermatogenic Defects in Basal Layer

Background: Male factors, mainly spermatogenesis disorder, are responsible for 20-30% of infertility occurred in different societies. One of the known causes of spermatogenesis disorder is chemotherapy in patients with cancer. The side effect of chemotherapic agents may last from 10 years up to the end of the life. Since dividing cells are mainly affected by anticancer drugs, the aim of the present study is to investigate the preventive effect of GnRH antagonist, on sertoli cell defect produced by anticancer drug (vincristine). Materials and Methods: In the present study 30 adult male mice aging 6-8 weeks were used. The mice were divided into 3 equal groups as: control, vincristine (V) group and vincristine + cetrorelix, a GnRH antagonist, and (V+C) group. A single dose of Vincristine was injected as ip at 1.5 mg/kg. In V+C group cetrorelix injection was started one week before vincristine treatment and continued for 3 more weeks. Since spermatogenic cycle in mice is 35 days, mice in all groups were sacrificed 35 days after vincristine injection. Half of testicular specimens were prepared for LM, and half of testicular specimens were fixed in 2% glutaraldehyde and prepared for EM studies. The thin sections were studied with LEO 906 TEM. Results: Observation with optic microscope in (V) group beside control group showed that thickness of germinal epithelium was reduced a lot, also the electron microscopic observations in (V) group showed that germinal cells separate out of basal lamina (BL) and exist same irregularity waviness and thickening in basal layer. Observations LM, EM in (V+C) group showed that thickness of germinal epithelium approximately was similar to control group. Conclusion: According to the result, it is concluded that GnRH antagonist administration before cancer treatment could partially prevent the side effect of anticancer drugs.