Cyclophosphamide-induced synaptonemal complex damage during meiotic prophase of female Rattus norvegicus

The reproductive system can be especially sensitive to the toxic, carcinogenic or mutagenic effects of alkylating agents. However, since studies of such effects on germ cells are complex, their analysis has been frequently overlooked. In humans, occupational or therapeutic exposure to cyclophosphamide has been associated with male (azoospermia) and female (ovarian failure) sterility or infertility. In this work, we have studied the effect of cyclophosphamide on the formation of the synaptonemal complexes in female rat fetuses. Our results indicate that cyclophosphamide administered at 16 days of gestation, when most germ cells are in a proliferative stage in the female rat, significantly increases the frequency of synaptonemal complex and nucleolar fragmentation in a dose-dependent way.