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. 2018 Sep-Oct;44(5):1005-1013.
doi: 10.1590/S1677-5538.IBJU.2018.0200.

Protective effects of Tadalafil and darbepoetin against ischemia - reperfusion injury in a rat testicular torsion model

Caglar Yildirim  1 , Ozgur H Yuksel  1 , Ahmet Urkmez  2 , Aytac Sahin  1 , Adnan Somay  3 , Ayhan Verit  1
Affiliations

Protective effects of Tadalafil and darbepoetin against ischemia - reperfusion injury in a rat testicular torsion model

Caglar Yildirim et al. Int Braz J Urol. 2018 Sep-Oct.

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate protective effects of darbepoetin and tadalafil against ischemiareperfusion injury in ipsilateral and contralateral testicle.

Materials and methods: Thirty 3-month-old adult male Wistar-Albino rats were randomly divided into 5 groups (A-E). Sham operation was performed in the first group. In Group B, rats did not received any medication after creating 720 degrees torsion of the left testis. The rats in Group C, D and E received darbepoetin, tadalafil, and darbepoetin/ tadalafil combination 30 minutes after creating 720 degrees torsion of the left testis, respectively. The testes of rats in these three groups were detorsioned at 90 minutes after drug administration. Both testes were removed at 30 minutes after detorsion.

Results: There were significant differences between the groups in terms of the degree of histopathological damage, Johnsen score, fibrosis score and caspase-3 immunoreactivity in the torsioned testes (p: 0.000). The results for each parameter in the left testes were significantly better in the darbepoetin / tadalafil combination group. Similarly, there were also significant differences in the contralateral testes (p: 0.000).

Conclusion: The active substances darbepoetin and tadalafil that were used as a combination had protective effects on both testes and produced out better results in preserving testicular histology. Especially in cases where it is not possible to rescue the torsioned testis, this result was more noticeable in the contralateral testis.

Keywords: Tadalafil; Darbepoetin alfa; Reperfusion Injury.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. A) I/R group, Left testis: Irregular contours, seminiferous tubules that only contain Sertoli cells and spermatogonia (H-E x100). B) DpO/Td combination Group, Left Testicle: Tubules on a hyperemic background, Johnsen score partially low, but organized tubules (H-E x100). c) I/R Group; Left Testicle M-T: Diffuse fibrosis in basal membrane of deformed seminiferous tubules (arrow)(M-T x200). D) I/R group, caspase-3, Left testicle: Distinctive staining on germ cells (arrow)(IHK x200).
Figure 2
Figure 2. A) I/R group, right testicle: Spermatogenesis arrest at spermatocyte level and seminiferous tubules containing only Sertoli cells (H&E x400). B) DpO/Td combination group, Right Testicle: Regular sized seminiferous tubules with slightly decreased Johnsen score (H&E x100). c) I/R Group; Right Testicle M-T: Severe fibrosis on basal membrane of deformed seminiferous tubules (arrow)(M-T x200). D) I/R group, caspase-3, Right testicle: Staining on several germ cells (arrow)(IHK x200).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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