Veterinary Research Forum
Vet Res Forum

Effects of L-carnitine and betamethasone on ischemia-reperfusion injuries and sperm parameters following testicular torsion in a rat model

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Siamak Kazemi-Darabadi 1
Reza Asadpour 1
Amir Ali Shahbazfar 2
Sajjad Alizadeh 3

1 Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran

2 Department of Pathobiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran

3 Graduate Student, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran

https://doi.org/10.30466/vrf.2019.74767.2002
Abstract
Testicular torsion is a consequence of spermatic cord twisting which causes progressive damage to the structure of the testis and reduces sperm quality and usually results in infertility. In the present study, with the assumption of the protective effects of L-carnitine and betamethasone against ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injuries, their effects on twisted testicles were evaluated and compared. Twenty Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups and used in this study. Except for the Sham (S) group, testicular IR was induced surgically in three other groups, including Control (C), Betamethasone (BM), and L-carnitine (LC) groups. Betamethasone and L-carnitine were injected before detorsion in the BM and LC groups, respectively. After twelve hours of reperfusion, the testicles were detached, and prepared for sperm parameters evaluation such as sperm count, motility, viability, morphology, and chromatin quality, and histopathologic evaluations, including mean seminiferous tubular diameter (MSTD), germinal epithelial cell thickness (GECT), and Johnsen’s mean testicular biopsy scoring (MTBS). The MSTD, GECT, and healthy sperms in the C group were significantly lower than the other groups, while the BM and LC groups were significantly different from others in MTBS. The number of sperms and sperm motility in the BM group was significantly higher than the C group. Sperm viability in the BM and LC groups were significantly higher than the C group. The results of this study showed that both L-carnitine and betamethasone similarly can be effective in treating testicular IR injuries.

Keywords

Betamethasone
Carnitine
Reperfusion injury
Spermatic cord torsion
Sperm characteristics

Subjects

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Veterinary Research Forum
Volume 10, Issue 2
Spring 2019
Pages 125-132

  • Receive Date 04 November 2017
  • Revise Date 05 December 2017
  • Accept Date 09 January 2018

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