[Effects of GnRH agonist on follicular granulosa cell apoptosis of rats]

Background: Gonadotropin-releasing hormone [GnRH] has been found to be expressed in ovaries in addition to hypothalamus to modulate cell differentiation and induces atretic follicles. Since the death of granulosa cells during the process of follicular atresia occurs by apoptosis phenomenon, in this study, we investigated the occurrence of apoptosis of granulosa cells of rat ovarian follicles under the influence of Buserelin acetate, a GnRH agonist.

Materials and Methods: In this experimental case-control study, twelve 25-day-old female Wistar rats were randomly divided into 2 groups. The study and control groups received 0.2 mg/kg/d Buserelin acetate and normal saline, respectively, for 4 days. 24 hours after the last injection, the rats were anesthetized with a lethal dose of chloroform and ovaries were removed. Specimens were fixed in 10% formalin. After the passage, five-micron sections were prepared using a rotary microtome. Measurement of apoptosis was performed using a calibrated light microscope after TUNEL POD staining. Data were analyzed in GraphPad InStat software using independent t-test. P

Results: These data showed the average percentage of apoptotic cells in the control group 2/14 +/- 0/52, and in the experimental group 3/75 +/- 1/71. This difference was statistically significant [p

Conclusion: These findings suggest that Buserelin acetate increases apoptosis in the granulosa cells of ovarian follicles.

Long-term effect of ciprofloxacin on testicular tissue: evidence for biochemical and histochemical changes

This research studied the effect of ciprofloxacin [CPFX] on spermatogenesis. We aimed to estimate the effect of CPFX on serum levels of testosterone, LH and FSH. In this experimental study, a total of 24 mice were assigned to controlsham and test groups. We subdivided the test group into low [206 mg/kg] and high [412 mg/kg] dose CPFX groups. Control-sham animals received carboxymethyl cellulose [CMC]. All animals were treated orally for 45 days. Cytoplasmic carbohydrate, lipid accumulation, cytoplasmic lipase and alkaline phosphatase [ALP] ratios were examined. Serum levels of luteinizing hormone [LH], follicle stimulating hormone [FSH ] and testosterone were measured in the control and test groups. The spermatogenesis cell series exhibited low numbers of cells with periodic acid Schiff [PAS]-positive cytoplasm and higher numbers of cells with lipid-positive foci. The tissue to ALP ratio and germinal epithelium [GE] lipase synthesis increased in CPFX-treated animals. In contrast to the CPFX groups, control animals showed normal cytoplasmic carbohydrate, lipid, lipase and ALP ratios in all cellular layers. In the CPFX-treated groups there was a significantly lower serum testosterone level compared with the control group. The serum levels of FSH and LH in high dosetreated animals decreased. Our results suggest that following long time CPFX administration major alterations occur in GE intracytoplasmic biochemistry, which may lead to loss of physiological function and ultimately result in fertility problems. CPFX is able to imbalance serum levels of gonadotropins and testosterone levels by affecting Leydig cells

[Evaluation of sperm quality, maturation and DNA integrity in adult mice treated with sulpiride]

Use of certain antipsychotic drugs has severe effects on fertility in males. Hypothalamus and hypophysial impressions and changes in plasma hormones concentration like prolactin, LH and FSH can affect sperm production. In this study, we investigated the effects of sulpiride on sperm quality, maturation and DNA damage. Twenty for adult male mice [age: 6-8 weeks] were divided into three groups. The treatment group received 40 mg/kg sulpiride solution and the control sham group was given carrier of the drug intraperitoneally [IP] daily for 45 days but the control group received nothing. Finally, all the mice were sacrificed by cervical dislocation and their cauda epididymis were removed surgically. The excised specimens were placed in 1 ml HTF medium and incubated for 30 min in CO2 incubator to allow the spermatozoa to swim out. Later, sperm count, motility and viability were analyzed. Additionally, sperm chromatin quality and DNA integrity were assessed by aniline blue and acridine orange staining. Significant decrease in sperm motility and count were observed in the treatment group while the number of abnormal sperm increased as compared with the other two groups. Sperm viability and DNA maturation showed significant reduction and the rate of DNA damage increased in comparison with the control sham and the control groups [P<0.05]. The study showed that sulpiride has negative effects on sperm parameters in treated animals and in some cases it could cause secondary infertility

Cell kinetic study of tamoxifen treated MCF7 and MDAMB 468 breast cancer cell lines

Apoptosis could be a major mechanism of antitumor effect of tamoxifen. Therefore this study is designed to characterize the kinetic behavior of tamoxifen-induced apoptosis in the estrogen receptor positive [ER+] and negative [ER-] cell lines, MCF-7 and MDA-MB-468. Frequency of cell death was examined by trypan blue and acridine orange staining. Annexin V-Fluorescein/PI was used in flow cytometry for distinguishing the dividing, apoptotic and necrotic cells and Hoechst 33258 staining was also applied to detect apoptotic changes in the nuclear morphology. The results showed that tamoxifen was able to induce apoptosis in both cell lines [