Protective effect of remote ischemic postconditioning in rat testes after testicular torsion/detorsion.

Abstract

Testicular torsion/detorsion can lead to severe testicular damage. The organ-protective effect of remote ischemic postconditioning (RLIPost) against ischemia/reperfusion injury has been characterized; however, it remains unknown whether RLIPost has a testicular protective effect. Here, we tested the hypothesis that RLIPost can protect the testes in a rat model of testicular torsion/detorsion in vivo. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were assigned to sham-operated, control, or remote liver and limb ischemic postconditioning-treated groups. Testicular torsion/detorsion was performed by 3h of testicular torsion (720° clockwise unilateral spermatic cord torsion), followed by 3h of detorsion. For liver and limb ischemic postconditioning, four cycles of 5 min of liver or limb ischemia with 5-min intermittent reperfusion stimuli were conducted at the onset of testicular reperfusion. Liver and limb ischemic postconditioning significantly ameliorated ipsilateral and contralateral testicular swelling responses, preserved morphological integrity and spermatogenesis and inhibited testicular apoptosis. In addition, RLIPost enhanced the phosphorylation of AKT/ERK1/2/GSK-3β/STAT-3 in the ipsilateral testis while suppressing JNK activation in the ipsilateral and contralateral testes. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to demonstrate the involvement of RLIPost in an animal model of testicular torsion/detorsion. We showed that RLIPost protects both ipsilateral and contralateral testes against testicular torsion/detorsion in vivo, via at least in part, the RISK and SAFE-mediated signaling pathways.