Aim: Testicular torsion is a serious urological emergency, usually involving newborns, children, and adolescents which can lead to subfertility and infertility. Prevention of testicular damage caused by torsion is still a clinical and experimental problem. So far many chemicals and drugs have been investigated for decreasing ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury in experimental animals. The possible protective effect of darbepoetin alfa, a novel erythropoietic protein, on testicular tissue after I/R injury was examined in this study. Methods: Thirty rats were divided into three groups: sham operation, torsion/detorsion, and torsion/detorsion plus darbepoetin alfa groups. After torsion (2 hours) and detorsion (4 hours), bilateral orchiectomy was performed. Malondialdehyde, nitric oxide and glutathione levels were determined in testicular tissue. Results: Administration of darbepoetin alfa caused a decrease of malondialdehyde and nitric oxide levels and an increase in glutathione levels compared with the torsion/detorsion group. In addition, histological injury scores were significantly decreased in the treatment group more than the torsion/detorsion group.
Conclusion:The results suggest that darbepoetin alfa may be a potential protective agent for preventing testicular injury caused by testis torsion.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.