Cyclophosphamide induced morphological changes in rat spermatozoa

Cyclophosphamide (CP) is a class of medications called as alkylating agents which are used against many cancers. Present study was undertaken to investigate the effect of Cyclophosphamide on rat spermatozoa. For this purpose the experiments were undertaken using the male Wistar rat, Rattus norvegicus. Twenty-four rats were used. Those were allocated to two control and two test groups. The control group received saline water only, whereas the test groups received daily intra-peritoneal doses of 5mg / Kg BW and 15mg / Kg BW of CP for 15 days. At the end of the experimental period, the rats were sacrificed to observe changes in the morphology of spermatozoa. The result showed morphological deformities in spermatozoa such as pin-head condition, decapitated head, mid-piece abnormalities, different types of coiling of tail, bent tail, etc. These morphological abnormalities of spermatozoa were dose and duration dependent. This indicated that the anticancer drug Cyclophosphamide has anti-spermatogenic effect also which may decline fertility.