Toxicology 162 (2001) 209 – 218 Protective role of ascorbic acid to enhance semen quality of rabbits treated with sublethal doses of aflatoxin B 1 M.H. Salem a, *, K.I. Kamel b , M.I. Yousef c, 1 , G.A. Hassan a , F.D. EL-Nouty a a Department of Animal Production, Faculty of Agriculture, El -Shatby, Alexandria Uniersity, Alexandria, Egypt b Animal Production Research Institute, Dokki, Giza, Egypt c Department of Enironmental Studies, Institute of Graduate Studies and Research, Alexandria Uniersity, Alexandria, Egypt Received 29 November 2000; accepted 22 February 2001 Abstract Aflatoxins are toxic to a wide variety of animals, including man. The antioxidant ascorbic acid (AA) plays an important role in various physiological processes in the body including detoxification of different toxic compounds. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of AA on productive and reproductive characteristics of mature male rabbits given two sublethal doses (15 or 30 g/kg of body weight; every other day) of aflatoxin B 1 (AFB 1 ). The experiment lasted 18 weeks and included two periods: a treatment period (first 9 weeks) where the animals were given the tested materials, and a recovery period (second 9 weeks) where all the drugs were withdrawn. Results showed that live body weight (LBW), dry matter intake (DMI), relative testes weight (RTW), and serum testosterone were significantly reduced (P 0.05) by treatment with AFB 1 in a dose-dependent manner, and these effects continued during the recovery period. Aflatoxin treatment also decreased (P 0.05) ejaculate volume, sperm concentration, total sperm output, sperm motility index, and semen initial fructose concentration. The negative effects of aflatoxin on semen characteristics were dose-dependent and continued during the recovery period. Treatment with AA increased (P 0.05) LBW, DMI, RTW, serum testosterone concentration, improved semen characteristics, and alleviated the negative effects of AFB 1 . Aflatoxin treatment increased (P 0.05) the numbers of abnormal and dead sperms in a dose-dependent manner, and this effect continued during the recovery period. Treatment with AA alleviated the negative effects of AFB1 during treatment and recovery periods. Results demonstrated the beneficial influences of AA in reducing the negative effects of AFB 1 on production and reproduction of male rabbits. © 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Aflatoxin B 1 ; Ascorbic acid; Rabbit; Sperm; Testosterone www.elsevier.com/locate/toxicol 1. Introduction Aflatoxins are a group of relatively stable my- cotoxins produced mainly by Aspergillus flaus and Aspergillus parasiticus that are ubiquitous in hot/humid climates. They are produced on cereal * Corresponding author. 1. E-mail address: mokhtar – yousef@yahoo.com (M.I. Yousef). 0300-483X/01/$ - see front matter © 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S0300-483X(01)00366-3