Investigation of the Effect of Quercetin in Experimental Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury Model in Rat Testicle

Abstract

Testicular torsion (TT) is the most important cause of acute scrotum in childhood. It is an emergency surgical problem that can lead to loss of organ if left untreated. The aim of treatment is to reduce or eliminate the torsion/detorsion damage. The affect of antioxidants is one of the methods to be used for this reason. In this study, a special bioflavonoid and quercetin, an antioxidant known to protect against oxidative damage, were used to avoid experimentally caused torsion/detorsion damage in rats.
 32 male Sprague Dawley rats, 12 weeks old, weighing 250–300 g, were used in the study.Rats were randomized into 4 groups. No surgical procedure was performed in the control group. 5-hour ischemia was achived by applying torsion to the left testicle in the torsion group. After 5 hours of ischemia, a 2-hour reperfusion was applied in the torsion/detorsion group. In the torsion/detorsion+quercetin group, 2 hours of reperfusion was applied after 5 hours of ischemia and i.p. quercetin was injected.
 A significant decrease was observed in the quercetin-administered group in terms of spermatocyte degeneration and inflamation. There was a decrease in dilatation data in the quercetin group, but it was not statistically significant.
 Quercetin, which has a strong antioxidant effect, has been shown to have positive effects on experimentally induced torsion/detorsion damage.
 Keywords: Testicular torsion, ischemia-reperfusion, antioxidan, quercetin, Inflammation