Background Methylphenidate hydrochloride (MPH) is a psychostimulant widely used in the treatment of attention‐deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD), as well as a performance enhancer, for at least 60 years. Despite the notable effectiveness as a psychostimulant, ADHD is a chronic disorder and has a two‐third chance of accompanying the individual throughout life. Long‐term use of MPH has been associated not only with an increase in the development of neurodegenerative diseases, but it also causes side effects on male fertility in experimental animals. Objectives To investigate whether methylphenidate poses a risk to sperm DNA structure and to the quality of embryos conceived after treatment during adolescence in rats. Materials and methods Wistar rats at 38 days of age were treated either with 5 mg/kg body weight of MPH, in a single daily dose for 30 days, via gavage or with distilled water‐only protocol. Levels of oxidative stress in testicular and epididymal tissues were evaluated. Sperm chromatin quality and acrosome integrity was assessed under flow cytometry. From 107 days of age, animals were mated with untreated females. The effects of the paternal contribution at two different embryo development moments—cleavage stage (2.5 days post coitum) and late gestation (20 days post coitum) —were analyzed. Results MPH caused high levels of sperm DNA damage, which was reflected in 40% of decrease in early embryo quality and a lower number of live pups at 20 dpc. Discussion The high level of fragmentation seen in the embryos sired from the MPH group is consistent with the poor chromatin structure of the sperm and does not seem to be a result of oxidative stress in the reproductive tissues. Conclusions The results presented here suggest that the subchronic use of MPH during male prepubertal phase may cause long‐term subfertility and compromise embryo survival.

Aged gametes and age-related metabolic diseases are common causes of reduced fertility, a pattern intimately linked with lower quality of the DNA content. D-galactose administration in rodents has been used in research related to aging. Nutraceuticals containing anthocyanins, such as açai berry (Euterpe oleracea Martius), are adjuvants in controlling or preventing diseases related to metabolic syndrome. Seventy days old male Wistar rats were induced to senescence using daily doses of 200 mg/kg b.w. of D-galactose for 8 weeks by gavage and supplemented (DGA group) or not (DG group) with 200 mg/kg of lyophilized açai berry. The sham control (C group) group received distilled water. The animals were tested for blood glucose level and regularly weighed. Reproductive organs were collected, weighed, and sperm was collected from the epididymis cauda for DNA fragmentation test (SCSA), protamination (CMA3), lipid peroxidation (BODIPY C11), acrosome integrity (PNA) and mitochondrial mass (MitoTracker Green), all performed under flow cytometry. Rats from DG group showed opaque, dry and thin fur, characteristics not seen in the DGA and C groups. In the DG group there was a statistically significant increase in the epididymis weight, and increased numbers of spermatozoa with DNA fragmentation and altered acrosome, accompanied by higher levels of lipid peroxidation, and reduced mitochondrial mass. The results presented here suggest that the rats supplemented with lyophilized açai had improved integrity of the chromatin, acrosome, and mitochondrial function when compared to the aged group, which could improve the chances of success of conception.