THE EFFECT OF VITAMIN-E ON IPSILATERAL AND CONTRALATERAL TESTIS FOLLOWING UNILATERAL TESTICULAR TORSION IN RATS

An experimental study was conducted to investigate the role of lipid p eroxidation in ipsilateral and contralateral testicular reperfusion in jury following unilateral testicular torsion (TT) and the effect of vi tamin E in the management of this injury. Fifty adult male Sprague-Daw ley rats were divided into five equal groups, Bilateral orchiectomy wa s performed immediately in group 1, and 3 h after unilateral TT in gro up 2. In group 3, both testes were harvested 3 h after a sham operatio n. In groups 4 and 5, unilateral TT, detorsion after 3 h and bilateral orchiectomy after 6 h were performed. Vitamin E was given before deto rsion in group 4 and after detorsion in group 5. The levels of malondi aldehyde (MDA) were measured as an index of lipid peroxidation in all testes. There were no significant differences between right and left t estes within groups or between right or left testicular MDA values in different groups. The results suggest that lipid peroxidation does not play an important role in ipsilateral and contralateral testicular in jury following unilateral TT and that vitamin E given before or after detorsion of testes is not useful in preventing testicular reperfusion injury.