In vivo Genotoxicity Studies of Cefotaxime

Cefotaxime is a semisynthetic broad-spectrum bactericidal antibiotic derived from cephalosporin C. The aim of this work is to evaluate the genotoxic effect induced by intraperitoneal (i.p.) administration of cefotaxime at different doses (260, 520 and 1040 mg/kg b.wt.). The induction of sister chromatid exchanges "SCE's" in mouse bone marrow cells, chromosomal aberrations in mouse primary spermatocytes after repeated treatment (4, 7 and 10 d), and morphological sperm abnormalities were determined. The 3 tested doses of cefotaxime induced significant increase in the frequency of sister chromatid exchanges with dose-dependent relationship. A significant increase in the percentage of structural and numerical chromosomal aberrations in mouse spermatocytes was observed after treatment with the doses 520 and 1040 mg/kg b.wt. Cefotaxime also induced different types of head and tail sperm abnormalities. The results showed that cefotaxime has clastogenic and aneugenic effect.