Abstract
Infertility is a frequent long-term adverse effect of cancer therapy for children. Compromised testicular functions in adolescence are frequent observations after chemotherapy and there are currently no well-established alternatives to avoid this damage. Antimetabolites such as 6-mercaptopurine (6-MP) are used to treat a variety of cancer; however, its treatment-associated adverse effects on the male reproductive functions are overlooked. Here, the molecular processes underlying 6-MP-induced male germ cell damage in juvenile Sprague–Dawley (SD) rats (3 weeks) have been investigated. Rats were administered with low (5 mg/kg), medium (10 mg/kg), and high (20 mg/kg) doses of 6-MP per orally either singly (1 week × 1 cycle) or intermittently (1 week treatment followed by 1 week remission period × 3 cycles). The toxicity was evaluated in terms of genotoxicity and testes- and sperm-related cellular and molecular parameters. Single cycle of exposure either produced mild or no toxic manifestations at the end of the 6th week. Intermittent cycles of exposure, particularly at the 10 and 20 mg/kg, decreased body and organ weights, increased micronucleated cells in the peripheral blood, induced oxidative/nitrosative stress, altered sperm chromatin quality, reduced serum testosterone and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) levels, increased testicular structural aberrations, DNA damage, and apoptosis, and upregulated TNF-α expression and downregulated p-AMPK and β-catenin expressions. Conclusively, intermittent cycles of exposure at 10 and 20 mg/kg doses to the juvenile rats significantly induced oxidative stress, genotoxicity, and cellular and molecular perturbations in the testes and sperm of adult rats.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge the financial assistance received from the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), Mohali, Punjab, India, for carrying out the above experiments.
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The work was supported by funding from the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), Mohali, India (Grant number NPLC-GBJ-(2022–2023)).
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AP conceived, conducted the experiments, analyzed the data, and wrote the manuscript. GBJ conceived the idea, reviewed the manuscript, and administered the project. Finally, the authors have read and approved the manuscript for publication. The authors declare that all data were generated in-house and that no paper mill was used.
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Panghal, A., Jena, G. Single versus intermittent cycle exposure effect of 6-mercaptopurine in juvenile Sprague–Dawley rat: a germ cell-specific mechanistic study. Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Arch Pharmacol 397, 3155–3168 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00210-023-02797-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00210-023-02797-8