The protective effect of erythropoietin and dimethylsulfoxide on ischemia-reperfusion injury in rat ovary

Abstract

Objectives The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of erythropoietin and dimethylsulfoxide in the recovery from ischemia-reperfusion injury in an experimental rat adnexal torsion model. Study design Thirty-six Wistar-albino rats were divided into six groups. Except for the sham operation group, all groups were subjected to left unilateral adnexal torsion for 3 h. Erythropoietin and dimethylsulfoxide were intraperitoneally administered 30 min before the detorsion operation. Malondialdehyde and nitric oxide levels were detected from both the plasma and the tissue samples. The sections of the tissues were evaluated histologically. The results were analyzed by a one-way analysis of the variance (ANOVA) followed by the Duncan test for multiple comparisons using computer software, SPSS Version 15.0 for Windows. Results This study demonstrated that dimethylsulfoxide and erythropoietin pretreatment attenuated ischemia-reperfusion-induced lipid peroxidation, prevented post-ischemic ovarian injury and helped to maintain the ovarian morphology. Malondialdehyde levels of plasma and ovary were higher in the torsion and detorsion groups than the sham group. This showed that ischemia-reperfusion had caused lipid peroxidation of the ovarian tissue, thus leading to oxidative damage. One of the major findings of this study is that malondialdehyde was significantly decreased in the plasma of rats who were pre-treated with dimethylsulfoxide and erythropoietin before detorsion. This suggests that dimethylsulfoxide and erythropoietin might prevent oxidative damage in ovarian ischemia-reperfusion injury. Histological examination confirmed that reperfusion caused more detrimental effects than only ischemia, which could be at least partially prevented by dimethylsulfoxide and erythropoietin administration prior to detorsion. Conclusion Erythropoietin and dimethylsulfoxide may have beneficial effects in ischemia-reperfusion injury in ovarian torsion.