Capsaicin effectively prevents apoptosis in the contralateral testis afteripsilateral testicular torsion

Objective To evaluate the effect of afferent nerve blockage by administrati on of capsaicin on apoptotic changes in the contralateral testis in rats un dergoing ipsilateral testicular torsion, Materials and methods Twenty male albino rats were randomly divided into fo ur groups. In groups 1 and 2, rats underwent a sham operation and testicula r torsion. respectively, after the intraperitoneal administration of 0.9%, NaCl. Similarly, in groups 3 and 4 the rats underwent a sham operation and testicular torsion. respectively, after an intraperitoneal capsaicin inject ion. The testes were untwisted 24 h later and the contralateral testes harv ested. Apoptosis was assessed in paraffin-embedded sections stained for nuc lear DNA fragmentation. Fifteen cells were counted in each seminiferous tub ule and the apoptotic cells recorded. A score was calculated for each group and the results compared using the Kruskal-Wallis analysis of variance and Mann Whitney U-tests, with P < 0.05 considered to be significant. Results The mean apoptotic score of group 2 was significantly higher than t hat of the other groups, There was no difference between the apoptotic scor es of groups 1 and 3. 1 and 4. and 3 and 4. Conclusion Capsaicin effectively prevented apoptosis in the contralateral t estes of rats that had undergone testicular torsion.