Protective effects of rutin and naringin in testicular ischemia-reperfusion induced oxidative stress in rats

Abstract

Introduction: Testicular torsion and detorsion causes reperfusion injury which damages the testicular tissue and affects the quality of sperm. Deterioration in the quality of sperm worldwide is the recent scenario and one of its reasons is testicular ischemic/ reperfusion (IR) injury. Therefore the present study aims at producing new drugs for the treatment of testicular IR injury.

Methods: 42 animals were selected for the study and divided into 7 groups, each containing 6 rats. Bioflavonoids were tested for their efficacy in reversing the damage done to the testicular tissue by causing testicular torsion and detorsion in rats. As oxidative stress produced in the above condition causes tissue damage, MDA level was measured and antioxidant enzymes SOD and catalse were evaluated. Histological examination was conducted to find the extent of damage and the protective effect of rutin and naringin. One-way ANOVA and Tukey's post-hoc test were used for data analysis. A p-value<0.001 was considered statistically significant.

Results: MDA levels increased and antioxidant enzymes decreased drastically in the group of rats with testicular torsion and detorsion which clearly indicates a rise in oxidative stress (68% rise in the case of MDA and 20% and 16% decrease in SOD and catalase concentrations, respectively). Rutin and naringin-treated groups showed the beneficial effects of the medicinal drugs, particularly in higher doses. Rutin, 10 mg/kg, was effective when compared to naringin in providing protection. Compared to the animals in the control group, there was a 30% reduction in MDA levels and a 20% increment in SOD levels plus a five-fold increase in catalse in the rutin-treated group (10 mg/kg). Histological examination supported the above claims.

Conclusion: Oxidative stress in testicular injury affects the quality of sperm. Rutin and naringin in higher doses protected testicular tissue effectively. Further studies in this direction may prove beneficial.

Keywords: Ischemia; Ischemic reperfusion injury; Male infertility; Naringin; Reperfusion; Rutin; Testicular torsion.

Figure 1

A: Normal Testis with orderly arrangement of germinal cells (Hematoxylin and eosin; staining; magnification x100), B: Disordered, sloughed germinal cells within the seminiferous tubules in the torsion/detorsion group (Hematoxylin and eosin staining; magnification x100), C: Protective effect of rutin 10 mg/kg (Hematoxylin and eosin staining; magnification x100), D: Protective effect of naringin, 10 mg/kg (Hematoxylin and eosin staining; magnification x10