Maleficent effects of chronic tobacco Shisha smoke exposure on sperm DNA fragmentation, count, motility and morphology in adult male wistar rats

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Keywords

Shisha smoke, malondialdehyde, testosterone, sperm DNA fragmentation, sperm count, sperm motility and sperm morphology

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Currently there are no putative empirical data on the effect of Shisha
smoking on sperm DNA integrity and some of the available data on the adverse effects of
Shisha smoking on conventional semen characteristics: sperm count, sperm motility and sperm
morphology are contradictory. Despite the well-known deleterious reproductive effects of
cigarette smoking, it is relatively unclear whether or not Shisha smoking has the same effect on
male reproductive parameters. The present study was aimed at determining the effect of
chronic Shisha smoke exposure on semen parameters and sperm DNA integrity in adult male
Wistar rats. METHODS: Twenty-one adult male Wistar rats between the ages of 8-12 weeks,
weighing between 160 -180 g were divided randomly into three groups containing 7 rats per
group. Group I rats were kept for 30 minutes daily in the nose-only exposure chamber for a
period 13 weeks without exposure to Shisha smoke; group II (with water in the Shisha jar) was
exposed to bonged shisha smoke (BSS) and group III (without water in the shisha jar) was
exposed to unbonged Shisha smoke (UBSS), respectively for 7 seconds first and fresh air later
for 53 seconds, alternatively for 30 minutes daily for a period of 13 weeks. The Shisha smoke
was drawn from the Shisha apparatus outlet by a vacuum compressor at a pressure of 300 kPa
into the nose-only exposure chamber where the rats were kept. At the end of the exposure, five
animals from each group were randomly selected and anaesthetised with 0.4 mL/100g of
combined ketamine and diazepam and blood samples were obtained through cardiac puncture.
RESULTS: The result obtained showed that chronic exposure to Shisha smoke revealed a
significant increase in testicular malondialdehyde (MDA) level, high sperm DNA
fragmentation and abnormal cell morphology, marked reduction in serum testosterone
concentration, sperm count and progressive motility.