The impact of different surgical techniques and L-carnitine treatment on spermatogenesis in an experimental varicocele model

Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of various surgical varicocelectomy techniques following the emergence of oxidative stres on molecular level and that of L-carnitine treatment on the expression levels of sperm cells in the signal pathways.Material and Method: A total of 42 wistar rats each weighing about 250 ? 300 gr were randomly divided into 7 groups each holding 6 rats. The first group was the control group, the second was the sham group and the third was the varicocele group. The fourth group underwent varicocelectomy without artery preservation whereas the fifth group underwent varicocelectomy with artery preservation. The sixth and seventh groups were treated with 500 mg/kg/day L-carnitine in addition to varicocelectomy.Results: When the control, sham and varicocele groups were compared with Group 6, it was observed that the stem cell factor (SCF) mRNA expression levels indicated statistically significant increases as 3.51 folds (p= 0.035), 4.32 folds (p= 0.039) and 4.45 folds (p= 0.046) respectively. No differences were observed among the groups in terms of caspase-3 activity (p >0.05). A significant increase was observed in the SCF mRNA expression level after treatment with L-carnitine.Conclusion: The significant rise in the SCF mRNA expression level following the varicocelectomy points to the fact that the SCF/c-kit pathway is an important signal pathway in spermatogenesis. However, for understanding molecular fundamentals of infertility require comprehensive future studies and long term follow-up results.Keywords: Varicocele, SCF/c-kit, L-carnitine