The protective role of curcumin on testicular tissue after hindlimb ischemia reperfusion in rats

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of curcumin in remote testicular injury caused by hindlimb ischemia reperfusion (IR).

Forty male Wistar rats were allocated to four groups: sham (G1), sham + curcumin (G2), IR (G3) and IR + curcumin (G4). Curcumin 200 mg/kg was administered intraperitoneally 2 h prior to IR induction. Lower extremities were subjected to IR induced by infrarenal aortic occlusion for 2 h, followed by 6 h of reperfusion. The rats were euthanized and the testes were removed. Glutathione peroxidase (GPx), superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA), catalase (CAT) and myeloperoxidase (MPO) activities and histopathological damage scores were determined in right testicular tissues. Left testes were used for wet/dry weight ratio measurement.

Activities of SOD and CAT in testicular tissues were significantly decreased by IR, but curcumin pretreatment increased these levels (P < 0.05). MPO activity in testicular tissues in the G3 was significantly higher than in the G4 (P < 0.05). Significantly increased MDA levels in testicular tissues by IR were decreased by curcumin pretreatment (P < 0.05). Testis tissues showed a significant increase in GPx activity compared to the IR group when curcumin was applied. The wet/dry weight ratio of testicular tissues in the G3 was significantly higher than in the other groups (P < 0.05). In addition, specimens from the G3 had a significantly greater histological injury than those from the G4 (P < 0.05). There were no significant differences in tissue MDA, MPO, SOD, CAT and GPx activities, histological changes and wet/dry weight ratio between the G1, G2 and G4.

According to the findings, we conclude that curcumin has preventive effects in the testicular injury induced by hindlimb IR in rats.