[Influence of taxan-containing cytostatic preparations on the progeny].

In experiments designed to study effect of taxan-containing agents on the progeny of Wistar rats, one of the parents was given a single intravenous injection of the antineoplastic drug paclitaxel 1, 3 and 6 months before crossing with the untreated partner. The number of systemic pathological changes in the off-springs of paclitaxel-treated females was significantly greater and their spectrum wider than in those of the treated males. Severity of toxic effects depended on the time of crossing after drug administration. The optimal time for obtaining less affected off-springs of treated females and males was 3 and 6 months after administration of paclitaxel.

The rat spermatogenesis after injection of paclitaxel (antitumor agent).

Morphological and functional characteristics of spermatogenesis in rats were studied during the early and delayed periods after single injection of paclitaxel (antitumor agent) in the maximum tolerated dose. The drug induced structural changes in the gonads associated with oligospermia and increased number of pathological forms of spermatozoa with reduced functional activity.

Immune reactions in the progeny of female rats treated with paclitaxel.

Immune reactions of the progeny of female Wistar rats injected with paclitaxel a single MPD of 1 and 3 months before mating with intact males were studied. Thymic hyperplasia was detected in the progeny of female rats mated 1 month after treatment. Disorders in the antibody-specific and antibody-nonspecific mechanisms of the immune response were detected in the progeny of females mated with intact males 3 months after cytostatic treatment.

[Myelotoxicity of paclitaxel (mitotax)].

Paclitaxel (single intravenous injection in a maximum tolerated dose of 4.6 mg/kg) to white outbred rats causes bone marrow hypoplasia, increased granulocyte and erythroid cell mitosis (metaphase-anaphase transition), and moderate pancytopenia developments in peripheral blood (hypoplastic anemia, deep, short-term neutropenia, lymphopenia and thrombocytopenia) in the first hours after injection. A considerable increase of polyploidy (4n) cells and a moderate increase in the structural changes (chromatid deletions) of chromosomes was observed on bone marrow metaphase plates in 24 h. The drug introduction causes earlier increase in the rate of thymus cells mitosis, a growth in the number of thymocytes with apoptosis signs, and a moderate decrease in the thymus and spleen weight. All changes are reversible. Long-term (90 days after injection) observation revealed decreased lymphocyte count in the peripheral blood and bone marrow and earlier thymus involution.

Pharmacological correction of etoposide ovariotoxicity.

The possibility of reducing the ovariotoxicity of antitumor drug etoposide with buserelin, a hypothalamic regulator of pituitary function, was studied in female Wistar rats. Quantitative analysis of ovarian structural and functional elements on serial sections through the entire organ showed that 3 months after combined treatment with etoposide and buserelin, the morphological picture of the ovarian glands did not differ from that in intact animals of the same age, while etoposide monotherapy led to earlier development of atrophic processes. Six months after treatment, the number of bi- and multilayer follicles was significantly higher in rats receiving combined therapy compared to animals treated with etoposide alone.

Evaluation of the progeny of rats treated with topoisomerase II inhibitor vepesid.

Progeny of Wistar rats treated with vepesid 1, 3, and 6 months before mating is characterized by common pathological changes. These changes were more pronounced and more diverse in animals descending from females receiving the cytostatic compared to the progeny of treated males. The severity of toxic effects depended on the period between mating and vepesid treatment. Cytostatic treatment 3 months before mating was associated with minimum toxicity for the progeny.

Morphological and functional state of rat ovaries in the early and late periods after injection of vepesid.

Morphological and functional state of the ovaries in female Wistar rats was assessed in the early and late periods after administration of antitumor drug vepesid in a single maximum tolerated dose. In the early period, the drug pronouncedly decreased the number of primordial follicles, bi- and multilayer follicles, and the total number of generative elements. The number of graafian vesicles and corpora lutea did not decrease. In the late period, exhaustion of the reserved potencies of gonads was more pronounced than in the control. Morphological alterations in the ovaries were accompanied by inhibition of the functional state of the female reproductive system in the period corresponding to the action on mature and primordial follicles. This inhibition manifested in increased postimplantation mortality.

Effect of vepeside on the function of reproductive system in rats.

Experiments on adult rats showed that a single intravenous injection of antitumor drug vepeside in a MTD (maximum tolerable dose) reduced the reproductive status during periods corresponding to exposure of mature sex cells, spermatocytes, and spermatogonia in male rats and exposure of oocytes in ovulating, mature, and primordial follicles in female rats. Reduction of the male and female reproductive function manifested in increased antenatal mortality of the progeny. The toxic effects of the drug on mature male sex cells caused temporary partial infertility.