Ribavirin-induced sperm shape abnormalities in Wistar rat

Ribavirin (1-beta-D-ribofuranosyl-1,2,4, triazole-3 carboxamide) is a broad-spectrum antiviral drug. This study was aimed to investigate the mutagenicity of ribavirin on germ cells by employing sperm morphology assay. Male Wistar rats were treated with water, cyclophosphamide (CP) 40 mg/kg, and ribavirin 20, 100 and 200 mg/kg (i.p.) for 5 consecutive days at intervals of 24h. Following the last exposure, at 14, 28, 35, 42 and 70 days, the epididymal sperm smears were obtained and stained according to the standard procedure. One thousand sperms per animal were classified into normal and different abnormal types. Both CP and ribavirin-induced anomalies of head and tail of sperm except at 70 days. In CP groups, maximum incidence was observed at 28, 35 and 42 days. Ribavirin 20 mg/kg induced maximum incidence at 14 and 42 days, 100 mg/kg at 28 and 42 days and 200 mg/kg at 28-42 days. These results show that ribavirin is mutagenic to rat germ cells in a transient fashion.