The effects of chemical sympathectomy on testicular injury in varicocele

Objective To determine whether the sympathetic nervous system plays a role in the contralateral testicular deterioration encountered in varicocele. Materials and methods Forty male Sprague-Dawley albino rats (28 days old) w ere divided equally into four treatment groups, i.e. (1) sham operation, (2 ) with varicocele, (3) treated by chemical sympathectomy plus varicocele, a nd (4) chemical sympathectomy only. Chemical sympathectomy was induced by a dministering intraperitoneal 6-OH dopamine (100 mug/g for 5 days) in groups 3 and 4; groups 1 and 2 received equal volumes of physiological saline by the same route. All rats underwent laparotomy and part of the left renal ve in (distal to the spermatic vein confluence) was isolated and encircled wit h a 4/0 silk suture. The suture was left untied in group 2, and tied around a 24 F peripheral venous cannula in groups 3 and 4. The testes were then e xcised when the rats were 70 days old; malondialdehyde (MDA) in the testicu lar tissue was assayed by the thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances metho d, and superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) level s were determined by spectrophotometric analysis. Results Varicocele resulted in a significant increase in MDA levels in both testes and chemical sympathectomy prevented this effect. SOD and GSH-Px va lues were significantly decreased in both testes in group 2; chemical sympa thectomy also prevented this effect. Conclusion An induced unilateral varicocele significantly increases the bio chemical indicators of tissue hypoxia in both testes. As this increase was prevented by chemical sympathectomy, the sympathetic nervous system may pla y a role in the testicular degeneration associated with varicocele.