Protective effect of enoxaparin treatment againstuterus ischemia/reperfusion injury in rats

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to analyze the histopathologically protective effect of enoxaparin in rat uterus by exposing the uterus to experimental ischemia-reperfusion injury. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty female rats were divided into three groups after homogenization in weight and cycles. Group 1 was designated as control, Group 2 as ischemia-reperfusion group and Group 3 as treatment group. Group 2 and Group 3' experimental uterine ischemia-reperfusion model was established. All rats in Group 3, unlike Group 2, received subcutaneous (sc) Enoxaparin (CLEXANE 4000 anti-Xa/0.4 mL) 0,5 mg/kg 2 hours before ischemia. In histopathological analysis, endometrial epithelial glandular changes (inflammatory cell infiltration, endometrial glandular cell degeneration) and endo/myometrial stromal changes (congestion and hemorrhage, necrosis, edema, vascular thrombosis) were scored according to histopathological scoring system. RESULTS: In our histopathologic analysis, Group 1 had lower scores than the other groups in all parameters except necrosis (p<0.05). There was no significant improvement in endometrial epithelial glandular and endometrial stromal changes between Group 2 and Group 3 (p>0.05). However, vascular thrombosis, edema, endometrial glandular cell degeneration and congestion- hemorrhage scores were lower in Group 3 compared to Group 2. CONCLUSION: Although our study demonstrated that enoxaparin attenuated tissue damage, it failed to achieve significant results in its protective efficacy against uterine I/R injury. Keywords: Enoxaparin, Ischemia/Reperfusion, Uterus