Role of bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells in protection of spermatogenic and Sertoli cells against histological alterations induced by torsion/detorsion in rats

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Testicular torsion is an emergency. Thus, early diagnosis and appropriate treatment are fundamental to avoid irreversible testicular damage. The present study aimed to throw more light on the histological alterations in adult albino rat’s ipsilateral testis after unilateral testicular torsion and detorsion (T/D) and to demonstrate the effect of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) injection on these alterations.Materials and Methods: Twenty seven adult healthy male albino rats were divided into 3 main equal groups: Group I (Control group), Group II (T/D): the rats were surgically operated to perform T/D and Group III (T/D+MSCs): the animals were injected with MSCs in tail vein at the end of the surgery. All rats were sacrificed ten weeks from the start of the experiment and testis specimens were processed to be examined by light and electron microscope. Blood specimens were taken to measure serum testosterone level.Results: Degenerative changes were observed in spermatogenic and Sertoli cells of T/D group and were associated with statistical significant reduction in serum testosterone level, height of germinal epithelium, proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and vimentin immunoexpression. These changes were observed to be reduced in T/D+MSCs group.Conclusions: MSCs treatment could protect the spermatogenic and Sertoli cells from degenerative changes in testis after T/D in adult albino rats. Hence, MSCs therapy could be considered as a promising therapeutic tool to preserve spermatogenesis in cases of testicular T/D and should be more studied either on experimental animals or human.