The Effect of Methamphetamine on Oocyte Quality, Fertilization Rate and Embryo Development in Mice

Objectives: Methamphetamine (METH) is an illicit psychoactive drug. There are different reasons of abusing METH such as for recreational use and sexual satisfaction. This study was designed to investigate the effects of short and long-term use of METH on oocyte and embryo development in mice. Materials and Methods: In this study, 75 female NMRI mice were divided into five groups of 15. The groups consisted of a control group, experimental groups A and B, which received METH (10 mg/kg/day) intraperitoneally for 2 and 14 consecutive days, respectively and two sham groups A and B, which only received saline. After the last injection, 10 international units pregnant mare serum gonadotropin (IU PMSG) and 10 IU human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) were administered intraperitoneally for induction of ovulation. Then, all the mice were sacrificed to aspirate their oocytes for further evaluation. In vitro fertilization (IVF) was done by using mature oocytes and embryo development was investigated up to the blastocyst stage. Data was analyzed using SPSS and non-parametric Mann-Whitney test. Results: The number of fragmented oocytes in experimental group A was significantly increased in comparison with experimental group B and control group (P < 0.05). Also there were significant differences in the number of unfertilized oocytes and early cleavage stage embryos in experimental group B in comparison with other groups that indicates the reduction of fertilization rate in experimental group B (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Short-term administration of METH in mice can affect oocyte quality but had no effect on early embryo development, while the long-term administration may affect oocyte and embryo development in early cleavage stage.