Investigation of the protective effects of allopurinol and trolox against testicular torsion/detorsion damage in rats

Aim: In this study, we aimed to investigate the protective effects of allopurinol and trolox on the testicular damage in a testicular torsion/detorsion model in rats. Materials and Methods: 28 Male Sprague – Dawley rats used in this experiment were separated into 4 equal groups. 1) Control group. 2) Torsion/Detorsion (T/D) group. In this group, rats were exposed to left testicular torsion for 5 hours and reperfusion for 2 hours. 3) Torsion/Detorsion + Allopurinol (T/D+A) group. This group had the same surgical procedures in the second group and i.p. allopurinol (200 mg/kg) was administered. 4) Torsion/Detorsion + Trolox (T/D+T) group. This group had the same procedures in the second group and i.p. Trolox (50 mg/kg) was administered. After the surgical procedures, the rats were sacrificed and blood samples were obtained to measure malondialdehyde (MDA) levels. The testicles were taken to make histopathologic examinations, Johnsen score, to assess procaspase-3, cleaved caspase-3 expressions. PCNA immunohistochemistry and TUNEL-Assay were executed to evaluate the apoptotic index (AI). Results: In the T/D group, MDA levels, cleaved caspase-3 expressions, and AI were higher while PCNA expressions and Johnsen scores were lower and procaspase-3 expressions were similar compared to the control group. In the T/D+A group, the histopathologic damage was partially disappeared. The MDA levels, cleaved caspase-3, and PCNA expressions, AI and Johnsen scores were between the values of the control and T/D group while the procaspase-3 expressions were similar to those of the control group. The histopathologic damage was almost reversed in the T/D+T group and the MDA levels, procaspase-3, cleaved caspase-3, PCNA expressions, AI and Johnsen scores were found similar to the control group. Conclusion: Trolox was found efficient in reducing testicular T/D damage. Keywords: Rat, Testis, Torsion/Detorsion, Apoptosis, Caspase-3