تاثير ال- كارنيتين خوراكي بر بافت بيضه، پارامترهاي اسپرم و توليد روزانه اسپرم موش سوري بالغ

The Effect of Orally Administered L-carnitine on Testis Tissue, Sperm Parameters and Daily Sperm Production in Adult Mice

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to evaluate body and testis weight, testis tis­sue, counts, motility, viability, morphology, and chromatin quality of epididymal sperm, as well as the testicular spermatid number (TSN) per gram of testis, and daily sperm produc­tion (DSP) in L-carnitine treated mice. Materials and Methods: In the present study, adult male NMRI mice (mean age of 4 weeks) were administered L-carnitine by gavage for two weeks. The experimental groups received 1mg L-carnitine/100 \j\ deionized water and 10 mg L-carnitine/100 \i\ deionized water, respectively. The control group did not receive L-carnitine. All samples were as­sessed according to World Health Organization (WHO) criteria. Sperm morphology was assessed with papanicula staining. Sperm chromatin quality was assessed using aniline- blue staining. The left testes were fixed in Bouins solution for histological examination and the end slices were stained with hematoxilin and eosin (H&E). The right testis was homogenized, and TSN and DSP were calculated with an improved neubauer haemocytometer and respec­tive formula. Results: Administration of L-carnitine induced significant reduction in body weight (p<0.05) and an increase in tchromatine quality (p<0.05). Amongst the other parameters no signifi­cant differences were observed in all groups. Conclusion: These results show that oral administration of L-carnitine to mice with nor­mal spermatogenesis does not have any significant effect on the reproductive systems. Thus, L-carnitine seems to be ineffective in normospermic animals.