The effect of medroxyprogesterone acetate on bone marrow and testis during cytotoxic chemotherapy

The effect of medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) on the mitotic activity of bone marrow and testis during chemotherapy was investigated experimentally in an animal study. A total of 120 male Swiss albino mice were included in this study. Six groups were formed, each consisting of 20 mice. Low-dose MPA (LD-MPA) (15 mg/kg), high-dose MPA (HD-MPA) (100 mg/kg), LD-MPA plus cyclophosphamide (CP) (65 mg/kg), HD-MPA plus CP (65 mg/kg), and CP (65 mg/kg) were administered to the test groups and no drug was administered to the control group. Bone marrow samples and testis were examined for mitotic activity rate (MAR) on days 0, 18, 22, 26, and 30. In groups with regimens containing CP, MAR of hematopoietic cells in bone marrow was suppressed significantly (p<0.05). There was no difference in MAR of hematopoietic cells in bone marrow between the groups given MPA or not (p>0.05). Mitotic activity rate of the testis cells was significantly suppressed in groups with regimens containing MPA (p<0.05). In conclusion, MPA inhibited mitotic activity of testis, but there was no effect on the mitotic activity of bone marrow. These data do not seem to confirm the hypothesis of a myeloprotective effect of MPA.