Effect of methylphenidate hydrochloride (Ritalin®) on paternal fertility and on the quality of the embryos conceived after chronic treatment of rats at adolescence

• Grant number: 17/09712-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: November 01, 2017
• End date: October 31, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Vanessa Vendramini Vilela
• Grantee: Stephanie da Silva Dias
• 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 recognized efficacy in individuals of different ages who are carriers of 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 caused by methylphenidate on fertility and the impact of post-treatment paternal inheritance. Thus, the present study aims to investigate whether methylphenidate poses a risk to the reproductive capacity and / or quality of embryos conceived after treatment during the adolescence of rats. Twelve Wistar rats at 38 days old will be treated with distilled water, by gavage, in daily doses and in volume appropriate 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. From the 100 days of age the animals will be presented to cohabitation with untreated females, always at 18:00 h; The next morning (8:00 a.m.), tests will be performed to verify the copula. Females considered pregnant will be divided into 3 groups, according to the stage of embryonic development: the group E3 (2.5 dpc), E5 (4.5 dpc) and E20 (20dpc). Pregnant females of all groups will be submitted to euthanasia by means of CO2 asphyxiation, following all the recommendations of the National Council for Control of Animal Experimentation. The effects of the paternal inheritance on the embryonic development in the pre- and post-implantation phases will be analyzed. (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)