INVESTIGATION OF THE EFFECT OF Pistacia Terebinthus L. EXTRACT ON ISCHEMIA/REPERFUSION INJURY INDUCED BY EXPERIMENTAL TORSION/DETORSION IN THE TESTIS

Objective: Testicular torsion (TT), one of the urological emergencies requiring urgent intervention, can lead to testicular atrophy, impaired testicular function, and infertility in some patients if not treated promptly. Oxidative stress resulting from the excessive accumulation and increase of reactive oxygen species (ROS) due to ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury is the primary cause of pathological changes occurring during I/R. Pistacia terebinthus is extremely rich in phenolic compounds, tocopherols, and flavonoids. Due to these properties, it exhibits antioxidant activity along with anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and cytotoxic properties. This study aimed to investigate the potential protective and therapeutic effects of PT extract on testicular tissue in an experimentally generated testicular T/D model. For this purpose, histochemical and immunohistochemical techniques were used.Methods: A total of 48 male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into six experimental groups: Sham, Pistacia terebinthus (PT), Torsion/Detorsion (T/D), PT+T/D, T/D+PT, and PT+T/D+PT. The torsion-detorsion procedure involved rotating the animals' right and left testes 720° for three hours, followed by detorsion procedures. The PT extract was administered orally to the animals at a dose of 2 ml/kg according to the protocol. The testes were collected after completion of the experiment to perform histopathological and immunohistochemical evaluations.Results: Similarly in the Sham and PT groups, seminiferous tubules were normal, and 5-6 rows of germinal epithelium were observed in the basal lamina. The appearance of capillaries and Leydig cells in the interstitial area was normal. In animals in the T/D group, damage to the seminiferous tubules, deterioration of spermatogenic cells, bleeding in the interstitial area, edema, and blockage of the vessels were observed. Partial improvement, dilatation, and vascular occlusion were observed in the seminiferous tubules of animals in the P+T/D group. In the T/D+PT and PT+T/D+PT groups, features similar to the sham group were observed in the basal lamina, and vascular occlusion was observed. A total of 80 seminiferous tubules, randomly selected from sections taken from each group, were evaluated according to the Johnsen biopsy grading system. The evaluation revealed similar results between the sham and PT groups, while significant differences were observed among the other groups.Conclusion: PT extract has been shown to have a regenerative effect on damage caused by torsion-detorsion in the testis. Furthermore, PT extract was found to support cell survival by suppressing Apaf-1 expression, while also ensuring the continuation of spermatogenesis by increasing Sox-9 expression in the treatment groups. These results highlight the importance of further research into the protective and therapeutic potential of PT extract in cases of T/D damage.