The protective effect of darbepoetin alfa on experimental testicular torsion and detorsion injury

Abstract

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.

The protective effect of erythropoietin infusion on testicular torsion/detorsion: an experimental study

“…Although recently three publications have shown the possible beneficial effects of EPO in TT [15][16][17], the present study contains substantial new aspects in this field. Recently published studies have shown an anti-apoptotic and anti-inflammatory effect of EPO [15] and its free radical scavenger's activity, which decreases lipid peroxidation levels and the attenuation of apoptosis [16].…”

Eritropoietin Hormonu ve ACE İnhibitörü, Erişkin Erkek Sıçanların Sperm Parametrelerini Doxorubicin Toksisitesine Karşı Korur

“…It has been known that the EPO-R, being widespread area of the body, has a regulative role for the survival and proliferation of testes cells [12,14] . The EPO is produced within the layer of germ cells in humans and involved in reproductive function of the testis [10] .…”

“…This result was similar to the findings of Çeribaşı et al [33] , indicating the occurrence of LPO in the cellular membranes within the testes [31,32] . Researchers reported that the DP administration reduces the high MDA levels of testes subjected to the IR in rats [14] . Both the DP and DP+RAM treatments prevented the increase in the MDA level caused by the DXR injection herein.…”

“…It has potential roles other than haematopoiesis and treatment of anaemia since the EPO and EPO-R are located in the tissues of brain, spinal cord, heart, gastrointestinal tract, lung, testes and leydig cells [11][12][13] . A new long-acting EPO analogue darbepoetin alpha (DP), stimulating erythropoiesis by the EPO-R, was used in the present study [14] .…”

Medical perspective in testicular ischemia-reperfusion injury

“…EPO-R have been detected in different types of tissue including brain, spinal cord, heart and testes, and exhibit neuroprotective, anti-apoptotic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and angiogenic activity (19). EPO and the long acting EPO analogue darbepoetin alfa may have a protective effect on testicular I/R injury (20,21).…”