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Fennel induces cytotoxic effects against testicular germ cells in mice; evidences for suppressed pre‐implantation embryo development

Foeniculum vulgare (FVE; fennel) is an aromatic plant belonging to Umbelliferae family, which is widely used in traditional societies because of its different pharmaceutical properties. To uncover the fennel‐derived essential oil (FVEO)‐induced effects on male reproductive potential, 24 mature male albino mice were divided into, control, 0.37, 0.75, and 1.5 mg kg−1 FVEO‐received groups. Following 35 days, the animals were euthanized and the testicular tissue and sperm samples were collected. The histological alterations, tubular differentiation (TDI), spermiogenesis (SPI) indices, apoptosis ratio, and RNA damage of germinal cells were analyzed. Moreover, the sperm count, motility, viability, chromatin condensation, and DNA fragmentation were assessed. Finally, the pre‐implantation embryo development including; the percentage of zygote, 2‐cell embryos and blastocysts were assessed. Observations showed that the FVEO, dose dependently, increased histological damages, resulted in germ cells dissociation, depletion, nuclear shrinkage and significantly (P < .05) decreased tubular differentiation and spermiogenesis ratios. Moreover, the FVEO‐received animals (more significantly in 1.5 mg kg−1‐received group) exhibited decreased sperm count, viability, and motility and represented enhanced percentage of sperms with decondensed chromatin and DNA fragmentation. Finally, the animals in FVEO‐received group showed diminished zygote formation and represented decreased pre‐implantation embryo development compared to control animals. In conclusion, our data showed that, FVEO albeit at higher doses, is able to adversely affect cellular DNA and RNA contents, which in turn is able to negatively affect the sperm count and morphology. All these impairments are able to negatively affect the fertilization potential as well as pre‐implantation embryo development.