Abstract
Testicular torsion is one of the urologic emergencies occurring frequently in neonatal and adolescent period. Testis is sensitive to ischemia-reperfusion injury, and, therefore, ischemia and consecutive reperfusion cause an enhanced formation of reactive oxygen species that result in testicular cell damage and apoptosis. α-lipoic acid is a free radical scavenger and a biological antioxidant. It is widely used in the prevention of oxidative stress and cellular damage. We aimed to investigate the protective effect of α-lipoic acid on testicular damage in rats subjected to testicular ischemia-reperfusion injury. 35 rats were randomly divided into 5 groups: control, sham operated, ischemia, ischemia-reperfusion, and ischemia-reperfusion +lipoic acid groups, 2 h torsion and 2 h detorsion of the testis were performed. Testicular cell damage was examined by H-E staining. TUNEL and active caspase-3 immunostaining were used to detect germ cell apoptosis. GPx , SOD activity, and MDA levels were evaluated. Histological evaluation showed that α-lipoic acid pretreatment reduced testicular cell damage and decreased TUNEL and caspase-3-positive cells. Additionally, α-lipoic acid administration decreased the GPx and SOD activity and increased the MDA levels. The present results suggest that LA is a potentially beneficial agent in protecting testicular I/R in rats.
Highlights
Testicular torsion is a urologic emergency that occurs frequently in the neonatal and adolescent period [1, 2]
The basic pathology in testicular torsion is ischemia occurring as a result of the torsion, and tissue damage is done by reactive oxygen species as a result of reperfusion [5, 6]
A total of 35 rats were randomly divided into 5 groups: (1) control group (C, n = 7), (2) sham group (S, n = 7), (3) ischemia group (I, n = 7), (4) ischemia-reperfusion group (I/R, n = 7), and (5) ischemia-reperfusion + lipoic acid group (I/R + LA group, n = 7)
Summary
Testicular torsion is a urologic emergency that occurs frequently in the neonatal and adolescent period [1, 2]. It is characterized by a circulatory failure caused by a testis revolving around the vascular peduncle. This condition is most common in infancy and the beginning of adolescence, but it is seen in almost every age group. As a result of the reperfusion of the ischemic tissue, toxic-free oxygen radicals, such as nitric oxide (NO−), superoxide anions (O2−), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), and hydroxyl radicals (OH−) occur [1, 5, 7]
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