Background and Aim: Ceftriaxone is a cephalosporin derivative used in the treatment of respiratory infections and meningitis. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate ceftriaxone effects on sperm quantity, quality, damages and in vitro fertilization (IVF) in adult mice.

Material and Methods: 40 adult male mice were randomly divided into 3 groups as following: control group received intraperitoneal normal saline every day; experimental groups 1 and 2 received 20 mg/kg/day and 50 mg/kg/day of ceftriaxone respectively through intraperitoneal route. Samples were obtained one week and 45 days after treatment Half of the animals in the test groups were analyzed after one week and the other half after 45 days. The sperm parameters including, sperm count, sperm viability, percentages of immature sperms, DNA damages, status of acrosomal enzymes, percentages of zygotes, two cell embryos and blastocysts were evaluated. Data were analyzed by repeated measure test. P<0.05 was considered significant.  

Results: Ceftriaxone caused a significant reduction (P<0.05) in the total number of the sperms, percentage of viable sperms, increased number of immature sperms and sperms with DNA damage. Use of ceftriaxone in the test groups led to decreased population of zygotes, two cell embryos, blastocysts and increased percentage of arrested embryos compared to the control group.

Conclusion: Ceftriaxone decreased sperm fertility potential by affecting the quality and quantity of sperms in mice.           

Keywords: Ceftriaxone, Sperm parametrs, DNA damage, In vitro fertilization, mice.

Received: Jan 23, 2016      Accepted: Feb 7, 2017