protective effect of grape seed extract on sperm dna integrity and early embryonic development in male balb/c mice treated with fluoxetine

Background: fluoxetine (flx), an antidepressant, has toxic effects on embryonic stem cell differentiation and fertility. objectives: the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of grape seed extract (gse) on sperm dna integrity and early embryonic development in balb/c mice exposed to flx. methods: in this study, 32 male balb/c mice (6 - 8 wk, 30 ± 2 g) were utilized and randomly divided into four groups: control, flx (40 mg/kg b.w), flx (40 mg/kg b.w) + gse (150 mg/kg b.w), and gse (150 mg/kg b.w). in all groups, the caudal epididymis was collected on day 42. superovulation was induced in adult female mice, and fertilized oocytes were assessed. the amount of two-cell embryos was checked after 24 days of cell culture, and at 96 hours after fertilization, blastocysts and hatched embryos were examined. results: the results indicated a significant increase in the percentage of sperm with dna damage (p = 0.04) and immature sperm in the flx group (p = 0.02), along with a significant reduction in the percentage of zygotes (p = 0.25), blastocysts (p = 0.01), and hatching embryos (p = 0.03). however, the flx + gse group exhibited a remarkable improvement in all of the aforementioned parameters and in reducing embryo toxicity. the percentage of two-cell embryos did not differ significantly between the groups. conclusions: this study demonstrated the antioxidant activity of gse in mitigating flx-induced embryo toxicity.