The effects of two different doses of dexmedetomidine in a testicular ischemia-reperfusion model in rats

Objective: Testicular torsion is one of the main causes of acute scrotum which is mentioned as a surgical emergency. Ischemia and reperfusion caused by testicular torsion and detorsion leads to testicular damage. It has been shown that dexmedetomidine has anti-inflammatory activity in limited studies. The aim of this inverstigation was to assess the effects of two different doses of dexmedetomidine in a rat model of testicular ischemia-reperfusion.Material and Methods: After the approval of Local Ethics Committee for Animal Researches of Medical School of Dokuz Eylul University, 28 male Albino Wistar rats weighing 300-350 g were divided into 4 groups. The left testis and spermatical cord were liberated by lef inguinal incision in all groups. Sham group (Group 1) (n=7) was not received any other procedure. One hour of torsion and four hours of detorsion were applied to the other groups. The rats in ischemia/reperfusion group (Group 2) (I/R, n=7), were operated to make I/R. It has been injected dexmedetomidine after 30 mins of the beginning of the torsion procedure 50 µg/kg in Group 3 (I/R+50D, n=7), and 100 µg/kg in Group 4 (I/R+100D, n=7). To grade the testicular reperfusion injury tissue malondialdehyde (MDA) and nitric oxide (NO) levels were measured and the germ cell damage was evaluated histopathologically using Cosentino scale in the excised testis. p<0.05 was accepted as significant.Results: MDA levels in group I/R were significantly higher than in groups sham, I/R+50D and I/R+100D (p=0.000). MDA levels in I/R+50D and I/R+100D were also statistically different (p=0.01). NO levels were significantly higher in group I/R when compared to groups S, I/R+50D and I/R+100D (p = 0.003). Histopathologic scores were higher in I/R group than I/R+50D and I/R+100D groups (p=0.001)Conclusions: Deksmedetomidine treatment in 50 and 100 µg/kg was attenuated reperfusion injury in a dose-dependent manner in an experimental testicular ischemia reperfusion model.Keywords: Dexmedetomidine, Ischemia/reperfusion injury, testicular torsion, testicular torsion/detorsion, rat.