The effect of taxifolin on experimental testicular ischaemia reperfusion injury in rats. A biochemical and histopathological analysis

Objectives The aim of the study is to investigate the protective effect of taxifolin (3,5,7,3,4-pentahydroxy flavanone), a strong antioxidant, against testicular I/R injury in rats biochemically and histopathologically. Materials and methods 50mg/kg taxifolin was administered to taxifolin+testicular torsion–detorsion (TTTD, n-10) group of Albino Wistar male rats by oral gavage. Distilled water .5ml as a solvent was administered to testicular torsion–detorsion (TTD, n-10) and Healthy Control (SG, n-10) groups using the same method. An hour after the administration of taxifolin and distilled water, anaesthesia (ketamine 60mg/kg) was administered to all animal groups. TTD and TTTD group animals were subjected to testicular torsion at 720 degrees for four hours during anaesthesia. At the end of this period, testicular detorsion was applied and perfusion was allowed for four hours. Sham operation was applied to SG group. Results Our biochemical experiment results showed that the amount of malondialdehyde (MDA) in testicular tissue of TTD group presented a significant increase compared to SG and TTTD groups whereas total glutathione (tGSH) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels decreased. In addition, while TTD group presented severe histopathological damage in germinal epithelium cell and seminiferous tubule, mild damage was observed in TTTD group. Conclusions The results of our experiment indicate that taxifolin could be useful in the treatment of testicular I/R damage.