The present work aimed to assess the genotoxic effects of intraperitoneally injected copper in males of O. niloticus, and to investigate its association with eventual changes in the quality of the gametes and in the generation of offspring abnormalities. Thus, to evaluate DNA damage, the alkaline comet assay was performed in sperm and blood; sperm parameters were analyzed to determine the quality of the gametes, and the incidence of morphological abnormalities of larvae, originated from eggs fertilized by males exposed to copper, was used as a measure of reproductive impairment. Male fish were exposed to three doses (1 mg/kg, 2 mg/kg, 4 mg/kg) of copper sulfate via intraperitoneal injection and observed after 96 h of exposure. We found that the quality of gametes was not affected by copper, as indicated by the lack of differences in sperm parameters between the exposed and the control groups. Nonetheless, copper induced an increase in sperm DNA damage at all tested doses. Taking into consideration the total number of abnormalities, larvae presented a higher proportion of morphological abnormalities at all the tested doses. Considering the morphological abnormalities separately, the 2 mg/kg and 4 mg/kg groups presented significantly higher frequencies of arrested development and spinal abnormalities than the control group. This work suggests that intraperitoneally injected copper is an inductor of DNA breakage in germ cells of O. niloticus males. Copper induces the formation of larval morphological abnormalities, causing reproductive impairment to this species. The fact that copper did not induce alterations on sperm parameters indicates that the parental genotoxic effects are inheritable to the offspring.

本工作旨在评估腹腔注射铜对尼罗罗非鱼男性的遗传毒性作用，并研究其与最终配子质量变化和后代异常发生的关系。因此，为了评估DNA损伤，在精子和血液中进行了碱彗星测定；分析精子参数以确定配子的质量，并使用幼虫形态异常的发生率来衡量生殖损伤，幼虫的形态异常发生率是由暴露于铜的雄性受精卵产生的。通过腹膜内注射使雄鱼暴露于三种剂量（1 mg / kg，2 mg / kg，4 mg / kg）的硫酸铜中，并在暴露96小时后进行观察。我们发现，配子的质量不受铜的影响，正如暴露组和对照组之间精子参数的缺乏所表明的。尽管如此，铜在所有测试剂量下都会导致精子DNA损伤的增加。考虑到异常的总数，在所有测试剂量下，幼虫均表现出较高比例的形态学异常。分别考虑形态异常，2 mg / kg和4 mg / kg组的停滞发展和脊柱异常发生频率明显高于对照组。这项工作表明腹腔注射铜是诱导生殖细胞DNA断裂的诱因。2 mg / kg和4 mg / kg组的发生发展和脊柱异常的发生频率明显高于对照组。这项工作表明腹腔注射铜是诱导生殖细胞DNA断裂的诱因。2 mg / kg和4 mg / kg组的发生发展和脊柱异常的发生频率明显高于对照组。这项工作表明腹腔注射铜是诱导生殖细胞DNA断裂的诱因。O. niloticus雄性。铜诱导幼虫形态异常的形成，导致该物种的生殖功能受损。铜没有引起精子参数改变的事实表明，父母的遗传毒性作用是后代可遗传的。