Effects of subacute administration of co-trimoxazole and folic acid on ovarian tissue in adult female rats

Background: previous studies have reported the antifertility activities of sulfonamides. this study was designed to evaluate the effects of co-trimoxazole and its co-administration with folic acid on ovarian tissue in female rats. methods: a total of 54 rats were randomly divided into 9 groups (n=6). group i served as the control and group ii (vehicle) received saline. other groups,iii to ix,received co-trimoxazole (30,60,and 120 mg/kg; i.p.),folic acid (1 mg/kg; i.p.) or their combination for 14 days,respectively. the oocytes were obtained from each group at the end of the 14th days and scored for maturational status as germinal vesicle (gv),metaphase i (mi),or metaphase ii (mii). the number of primordial follicle (prf),primary follicle (pf),and secondary follicle in formalin-fixed ovaries were counted under light microscopy. the data were analyzed by one-way anova followed by post-hoc dunnet test using spss statistical software (version 17.0). results were considered statistically significant at p<0.05. results: co-trimoxazole (60 and 120 mg/kg) treatment for 14 days caused a significant decrease in the number of gv (p=0.02,p<0.001),mi and mii (p=0.03,p<0.001),a significant increase in structural abnormalities,including prf,pf and secondary follicle (p<0.001) as well as congestion,inflammation and necrosis of ovarian tissue compared to the vehicle group. folic acid co-administration with co-trimoxazole reversed partially all these parameters compared to the co-trimoxazole group (p<0.001). conclusion: the data showed the adverse effects of co-trimoxazole on the ovarian maturational status and tissue structure which was reversed partially by folic acid co-administration in rats. © 2017,shiraz university of medical sciences. all rights reserved.