Investigation of the protective effect of terebinth (pistacia terebinthus L.) against ovarian ischemia/reperfusion damage in rats

Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate the therapeutic and protective effects of Pistacia terebinthus L. (terebinth) oil treatment on experimental ovarian ischemia and reperfusion injury in rats. Material and Method: In the study, 32 Sprague-Dawley female rats; They were divided into 4 groups: control, ischemia, ischemia/reperfusion (I/R), ischemia/reperfusion + terebinth oil (I/R + terebinth oil), 8 in each group. Terebinth oil was applied via oral gavage at a daily dose of 2 ml/kg for 4 weeks. Histopathological examination, immune activity and Western Blot (WB) analyzes were performed on ovarian tissues. Results: In histopathological examination of ovarian sections, the control group showed a regular histological appearance. In the ischemia and I/R groups, degenerations in the epithelium, inflammatory cell infiltration in the lamina propria region, and bleeding due to thrombosis in the enlarged vessels were observed. It was determined that terebinth oil protected the epithelial tissue after ovarian I/R injury, reduced inflammation in the connective tissue, and brought the artery-vein contours to a regular appearance. In the ovarian sections where immunohistochemistry analysis was performed, ezrin protein expression showed a positive reaction in the epithelial cells and a negative reaction around the vessels in the terebinth oil applied group compared to the I/R group. It was observed that radixin and moesin protein expressions showed positive reactions in granulosa cells. However, radixin showed a negative reaction in stromal areas, while moesin showed a positive reaction. Conclusion: As a result, it was revealed that terebinth oil has a healing and protective effect in the treatment of ovarian ischemia/reperfusion injury due to its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Keywords: Terebinth oil, Ischemia/reperfusion, Ovarian, Anti-inflammatory, Antioxidant.