Dominant lethal study of alpha-asarone in male mice

Alpha-asarone is a hypolipidaemic agent obtained from Guatteria gaumeri, a medical plant used in Mexico to treat hypercholesteraemia and cholelithiasis. alpha-Asarone has been shown to be hepatocarcinogenic and mutagenic in a human lymphocyte assay, a murine bone marrow cell assay and in an unscheduled DNA synthesis assay. In this study, alpha-asarone was tested for dominant lethal effects in male CF1 mice. The drug was given orally at doses of 0, 10 and 30 mg/kg per day for 5 days. Males were mated weekly with eight consecutive batches of naive, nulliparous female mice. Repeated matings revealed no perceptible effect of alpha-asarone on the incidence of pregnancy. Examination of surgically exposed uteri and ovaries of pregnant females on day 13-15 of gestation revealed an increased incidence of post-implantation loss. Semen examination of a separate group of mice showed a decreased concentration and motility of spermatozoa. These results suggest a dominant lethal mutation as well as direct alpha-asarone toxicity to spermatozoa by in treated mice.