Background: Empagliflozin is a new sodium-glucose 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor class. It reduces glucose reabsorption in the kidney and increases its excretion in the urine, reducing blood sugar in patients with type 2 diabetes. The mechanism of action of this drug is independent of β-cells and insulin; Therefore, it is a potential new approach for treating hyperglycemia in type 2 diabetes. Objective: Since the effect of empagliflozin as an antidiabetic drug has not been evaluated on sperm parameters, we aimed to investigate the effect of empagliflozin on sperm parameters in type 2 diabetic rats. Materials and Methods: 18 male Wistar rats (8-10 wk, 250-300 gr) were randomly divided into 3 groups (n = 6/ each), including control, diabetic (induced through a single intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (65 mg/kg bw) and nicotinamide (110 mg/kg bw)) and diabetic + Empagliflozin (10 mg/kgbw/day of empagliflozin administrated to diabetic rats through gavage for 8 wk). After the end of the treatment period, to assess the count, viability, motility, and morphology of the sperm, semen samples of the rats were collected from the epididymis. After preparing the smear, Eosin-Nigrosin, and Diffquick staining were used, respectively, to evaluate the viability and morphology of the sperm. Results: A significant decrease in the sperm count and viability (p ˂ 0.001), the percentage of sperm motility and progressing sperm (p ˂ 0.001), and the percentage of normal morphology (p ˂ 0.001) were observed in the diabetic group compared to the control group. And also, there were significant increases in the percentage of headless and tailless sperm (p ˂ 0.001), sperm with damaged tails, and the percentage of stationary sperm (p ˂ 0.001) in the diabetic group compared to the controls. In the empagliflozin group, a significant increase in the count and viability of sperm (p ˂ 0.001), the percentage of sperm motility (p = 0.007), the percentage of progressive sperm (p = 0.048), the percentage of normal morphology (p = 0.012), and percentage of sperm with damaged tail (p = 0.001), as well as a significant decrease in the percentage of headless sperm (p = 0.006), percentage of tailless sperm (p = 0.001), and percentage of stationary sperm (p = 0.049), was observed compared to the diabetic group. Conclusion: Based on the results of the present study, empagliflozin improves sperm factors such as count, motility, viability, and morphology which have been disturbed through type 2 diabetes, but also increases the abnormality of the sperm tail.
