Effects of a New Benzimidazole Derivative with Actoprotective Properties on Spermatogenic Epithelium of the Testes and Fertility of Male White Rats.

The effects of a new derivative of benzimidazole (K-134) in doses of 5 and 50 mg/kg on the spermatogenesis and fertilizing ability of spermatozoa were studied on male rats. It was found that 2-month course treatment with the studied substance enhances the producing ability of the spermatogenic epithelium and improves fertilizing ability of spermatozoa.

Effects of Afobazole on Postnatal Development of Rat Offspring.

Physical development, development of sensory and motor reflexes, behavioral and mnestic patterns were studied infantile and juvenile rat pups born by female rats receiving Afobazole during pregnancy. Physical development and development of sensory and motor reflexes in rats were completed without pathologies by the age of 2 months. During the infantile period, the rat pups demonstrated reduced body weight gain, delayed eye opening and pupillary response formation, decreased muscle force, and suppressed motor behavior. During the juvenile period, body weight gain and development of motor behavior were intensified. Females demonstrated later vagina opening and poorer mnestic responses. In males, the terms of sexual maturation were unchanged and processes of learning and memory retrieval were not impaired.

[PHYSICAL AND BEHAVIORAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE OFFSPRING OF FEMALE RATS TREATED WITH AFOBAZOLE DURING PREGNANCY.]

It is experimentally established that afobazole produces no damaging action on the organogenesis and fetogenic processes registered in the postnatal period of rat offspring development. It was noted that, in rat babies in lactation age, the dynamics of body weight gain was lower on average by 7.4% (p < 0.05) in males and 17.0% (p < 0.001) in females; the rate of muscular force maturing was lower by 2.7% (p < 0.05); and the locomotive activity was lower (by 19.4% for ver- tical standings and by 50% for looking into floor holes, p < 0.05) compared to control values. For the same offspring passed to definitive food, the body weight gain and behavioral activity did not differ from control indicators, while the terms of sexual development were delayed in females and did not change in males. By two-month age, the physical development of rat offspring was completely created and met physiological standards.

Effects of a New Benzimidazole Derivative on Generative Function of Female Rats.

The effects of a new thietanylbenzimidazole derivative (K-134) on estrous cycles, conception processes, and sexual behavior of female rats were studied. Two-week oral treatment with K-134 in doses of 5 and 50 mg/kg shortened the estrus phase and prolonged proestrus. Changes in sexual behavior were presented by activation of receptive sexual motivations without affecting proceptive motivations. The pregnancy and fertility indexes in experimental females after mating with intact males increased and pre- and postimplantation embryonic death decreased.

Effect of afobazole administered to pregnant rats during organogenesis on prenatal development of fetuses.

Experiments on pregnant rats have demonstrated the absence of damaging effect of Afobazole administered during the antenatal period on organogenesis in fetuses. Afobazole in a dose of 5 mg/kg given to pregnant rats on gestation days 6-16 reduced pre- and post-implantation fetal mortality and improved fertility; 20-day-old embryos had no developmental abnormalities and did not differ from controls by craniocaudal size, body weight, and skeleton ossification. Afobazole in a dose of 100 mg/kg reduced pre- and post-implantation fetal mortality, but had no effect on fertility. No congenital malformations were found in the fetuses, but they were characterized by lower craniocaudal size, body weight, and number of ossification foci in the sternum and spine.