Effect of methylphenidade hydrochloride (Ritalin®) on the quality of sperm genome and function in rats treated at adolescence

• Grant number: 17/09725-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: December 01, 2017
• End date: November 30, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Vanessa Vendramini Vilela
• Grantee: Camila Souza Bellin
• Host Institution: Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Methylphenidate hydrochloride (Ritalin®) is a psychostimulant that has been widely used in the treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), because it has proven efficacy in individuals of various ages with the disease. Although the treatments are able to attenuate or extinguish symptoms, the disorder is chronic and has a 60% chance of accompanying the individual throughout life. Currently, little is known about the possible side effects of methylphenidate on male fertility and the impact of post-treatment paternal inheritance. Thus, the present study aims to investigate possible damages produced by methylphenidate on the functional and genomic quality of spermatozoa after treatment during the adolescence of rats. For this purpose, twelve Wistar rats at 38 days of age will be treated with distilled water, by gavage, in daily doses and at a volume adequate for the animal's weight (control group: n = 6). Or 5 mg / kg body weight of methylphenidate hydrochloride, in a single daily dose, via gavage (MFD group; n = 6). Both groups will be treated for 30 days. At 121 days of age, when animals are considered sexually mature, they will undergo euthanasia preceded by anesthesia to collect the reproductive organs (testes, epididymis, seminal vesicles and prostate). Biometric parameters of reproductive organs and sperm quality (mitochondrial activity, acrosome and DNA integrity) will be analyzed, as well as evaluation of testicular and epididymal oxidative stress. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

DA COSTA NUNES GOMES, ANA CLARA; BELLIN, CAMILA SOUZA; DIAS, STEPHANIE DA SILVA; DE ROSA, THALITA DE QUEIROZ; DE ARAUJO, MARINA PEREIRA; MIRAGLIA, SANDRA MARIA; MENDES, TALITA BIUDE; VENDRAMINI, VANESSA. Increased sperm deoxyribonucleic acid damage leads to poor embryo quality and subfertility of male rats treated with methylphenidate hydrochloride in adolescence. ANDROLOGY, v. 10, n. 8, p. 12-pg., 2022-09-02. (17/09712-4, 17/09725-9)