ABSTRACT
Tamoxifen at a dose of 400 microg/kg/day has been reported to reduce the fertility of adult male rats and alter the pattern of cauda sperm motility from forward progressive to circular yawing type. Since sperm motility is powered by mitochondria, the effect of tamoxifen on mitochondrial function was studied. Tamoxifen treatment significantly increased rhodamine 123 fluorescent dye uptake by sperm mitochondria, reflecting an altered mitochondrial membrane potential. ATP and DAG levels, activities of glycolytic enzymes, creatine kinase and PKC all remained unaffected by tamoxifen. This is also the first report describing the presence of PKC alpha and beta in rat sperm. Morphological and biochemical integrity of sperm membranes was determined by electron microscopy and malondialdehyde levels, which were unaltered after tamoxifen treatment. This study indicates that the altered sperm motility induced by tamoxifen is accompanied by changes in mitochondrial membrane potential, but in the absence of any detectable change in membrane integrity, lipid peroxidation, ATP levels and activities of glycolytic enzymes, creatine kinase and PKC.
Subject(s)
Mitochondria/drug effects , Protein Kinase C/metabolism , Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulators/pharmacology , Spermatozoa/drug effects , Tamoxifen/pharmacology , Adenosine Triphosphate/metabolism , Animals , Biological Transport , Creatine Kinase/metabolism , Fluorescent Dyes/metabolism , Glycolysis , Male , Malondialdehyde/metabolism , Mitochondria/metabolism , Mitochondria/ultrastructure , Rats , Rhodamine 123/metabolism , Sperm Motility/drug effects , Spermatozoa/enzymology , Spermatozoa/ultrastructureABSTRACT
Mitochondria (mt) play an important role in both apoptosis and haem synthesis. The present study was conducted to determine DNA mutations in mitochondrial encoded cytochrome c-oxidase I and II genes. Bone marrow (BM) biopsy and aspirate, peripheral blood (PB) and buccal smear samples were collected from 20 myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) patients and 10 age-matched controls. Cytochrome c-oxidase I (CO I) and II (CO II) genes were amplified using polymerase chain reaction and sequenced. CO I mutations were found in 13/20 MDS patients and the CO II gene in 2/10 normal and 12/20 MDS samples, irrespective of MDS subtype. Mutations were substitutional, deletional and insertional. CO I mutations were most common at nucleotide positions 7264 (25%) and 7289 (15%), and CO II mutations were most common at nucleotide positions 7595 (40%) and 7594 (30%), suggesting the presence of potential 'hot-spots'. Mutations were not found in buccal smears of MDS patients and were significantly higher in MDS samples compared with age-matched controls in all cell fractions (P < 0.05), with bone marrow high-density fraction (BMHDF) showing a higher mutation rate than other fractions (P < 0.05). MDS marrows showed higher levels of apoptosis than normal controls (P < 0.05), and apoptosis in BMHDF was directly related to cytochrome c-oxidase I gene mutations (P < 0.05). Electron microscopy revealed apoptosis affecting all haematopoietic lineages with highly abnormal, iron-laden mitochondria. These results suggest a role for mt-DNA mutations in the excessive apoptosis and resulting cytopenias of MDS patients.
