Effects of caffeic acid phenethyl ester on testicular torsion/detorsion injury in rats

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the protective effect of caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) on testicular torsion/detorsion-induced ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. STUDY DESIGN: Thirty male Wistar albino rats were randomly categorized into 3 groups: Sham, torsiondetorsion (T/D), and T/D+CAPE. Malondialdehyde (MDA), SOD, CAT, GSH levels, histopathological damage, and expression levels of endothelin-1 and ADAM-15 were examined in testicular tissue. RESULTS: The MDA level in the T/D group testes were significantly higher than those in the sham group. MDA levels of testes were lower in the CAPE-treated group than those in the T/D group. The T/D group had significantly lower SOD, CAT, and GSH levels in the testes than did the sham group. SOD, CAT, and GSH levels of the testes were lower in the CAPE-treated group than in the T/D group. In T/D group the thickness of the basal membrane in the tubules was increased, and degeneration and apoptosis in spermatogenetic cells, organization disorder in Sertoli cells, and sperm cells in the lumen were observed. The CAPE-treated group showed less atrophy and degeneration of the tubule epithelium than did the T/D group. CONCLUSION: It has been thought that CAPE administration after T/D testis damage may affect spermatogenesis development by inducing cell-cell junction by reducing apoptotic development which can regulate blood flow and microcirculation in testes. © 2018 Science Printers and Publishers, Inc.