Introduction: Maytenus macrocarpa (MM) "Chuchuhuasi" is a native plant from the Amazon region of South America, widely used in traditional medicine due its anti-inflammatory, analgesic and anti-tumor properties. However, its effects on reproductive physiology and male fertility have not been elucidated. Methods: Preclinical experimental study of cases and controls.  Male mice with eight weeks from birth were administered orally for 70 days (two spermatogenic cycles) an aqueous extract MM: GC (n = 8) 0 mg / kg body weight (bw) control group and treated group GT (n = 8) 1000 mg / kg bw. Later the animals were euthanized, the reproductive organs were weighted, also motility and sperm count were recorded. During the days 60 or 65 of treatment, males were mated and pregnant females were sacrificed in the fourth day of pregnancy for evaluating development, quality and degree of blastulati...

Introduction: Lead toxicity has been linked to different diseases in humans and several evidences suggest a strong relationship with the observed damage on reproductive function in humans and rodents. Method: Mice were given a single dose of lead nitrate (NP) (50mg/kg/bw), which were euthanized seven days post-injection with the aim of evaluating sperm to come out from the seminiferous tubules and are in transit through the epididymis. Also, the TUNEL test was done to evaluate the sperm DNA fragmentation.  Results: The decrease in body weight in mice treated with LN (p <0.05), suggest a toxic systemic effect. However, the same did’n happen on the reproductive system because the weights of the testes, epididymis, prostate and seminal vesicles were not altered (p>0.05), in the same way physiological values such as sperm concentration and motility didn´t decrease with the treatmen...

La edad influye en el empaquetamiento adecuado de la cromatina espermática haciéndola más vulnerable con el transcurrir del tiempo. Las protaminas son las proteínas nucleares más abundantes en el espermatozoide maduro y empaquetan fuertemente el genoma paterno dentro del núcleo espermático, haciéndolo inaccesible a nucleasas o mutágenos, protegiendo de esta manera al ADN espermático. Ratones con sólo una copia de estos genes son infértiles, lo que demuestra que son esenciales para la función espermática normal. El objetivo de esta tesis fue investigar si existe relación entre la edad masculina y la protaminación espermática a nivel fisiológico y molecular. Se usaron ratones (Mus musculus Linnaeus, 1758) macho de la cepa C57BLACK6 (C57BL6) (20 – 25 g), divididos en dos grupos etarios: ratones de 3-4 meses (Grupo joven: G1) y 18-21 meses (Grupo viejo: G2). Se emplearon ...