This study was conducted to clarify the implications arising from the use of ceftiofur sodium, third generation of cephalosporins, on male reproductive organs, testosterone hormone and testicular oxidative stress markers. Adult male rats (200-250 g) were daily subcutaneously injected with ceftiofur sodium at a dose of 7.2 mg or 14.4 mg/kg b.wt. for seven or fourteen days and scarified at the first, thirty and sixty day after the last dose of administration. Ceftiofur was noticed to induce a significant decrease in the index weight of the reproductive organs (testes, epididymis, seminal vesicle and prostate gland). Nevertheless, seminal vesicle and prostate gland weights increased at the 1st day
post-treatment in 14-days-double therapeutic group. Sperm motility, livability and cell concentration as well as testosterone level decreased, while sperm head and tail abnormalities increased markedly in all ceftiofur treated groups along the experimental periods. Testicular oxidative stress markers showed a significant decrease in ceftiofur groups. Histopathological changes in testicular tissues were characterized by homogenous esinophilic material and congestion in the blood vessels in the interstitial stroma. The epididymis of 14-days double-therapeutic group at 60 days showed histopathological alternation characterized by focal inflammatory cells' infiltration. Concluding that the ceftiofur sodium administration is potentially detrimental for male fertility and this might be through the disturbance of oxidative stress ameliorating mechanism inside the testes. |
