Evaluation of L-carnitine Effect on the Spermatocyte Counts in the Male Albino Mice Administered with Ifosfamide During Embryonic Development

Abstract

     Males exposed to chemotherapy exhibit adverse impacts on the outcome of their offspring, which are time-specific and dose-dependent. Ifosfamide (IFO) is an alkylating drug used in cancer chemotherapy. It can also cause severe male infertility. To mitigate the effects of this chemotherapy, it is often administered concomitantly with antioxidants. L-carnitine (LC) has been used to prevent and protect against infertility induced by IFO. The present study was planned to investigate the effect of L-carnitine on the reproductive capacity of adult male albino mice exposed to IFO during embryonic development.  Forty pregnant female albino mice, weighing between 24 and 26 g and 8-10 weeks of age, were randomly divided into four groups, each consisting of 10 animals. The control group was injected intraperitoneally (IP) with normal saline, the IFO group treated IP with ifosfamide (100 mg/kg) on the day 10^th post coitum, the LC group treated IP with 250 mg/kg of L-carnitine from day 8^th post coitum to the end of pregnancy, and the IFO/LC group treated with 100mg/ kg of ifosfamide and 250mg/kg of L-carnitine as mentioned previously. Forty-four male offspring at the age of eight weeks were euthanized by inhalation of carbon dioxide gas and dissected to remove the testes organ for the quantitative evaluation of Sertoli and spermatocytes. In the IFO group, the counts of spermatocytes and Sertoli cells were significantly decreased (P≤0.05). In contrast, a statistically significant enhancement (P ≤ 0.05) was shown in the IFO/LC group. According to the findings, administering LC along with IFO during embryonic development can enhance the reproductive capacity of male offspring exposed to chemotherapy.