Antioxidant Effect of Melatonin in Systemic Circulation of Rats After Unilateral Testicular Torsion

Aim: To investigate the antioxidant effects of melatonin in the systemic circulation of rats after unilateral testicular torsion.Materials and Methods: After the approval of the study by the Local Ethical Committee, 30 male Wistar albino rats, 5.5–6 months old and weighing 250–300 g, were used in the study. The rats were randomly divided into three groups, each consisting of 10 rats. In group 1, the control group, the left testis was excised after sham operation. In group 2, the torsion group, torsion was created by rotating the left testis 720° in clockwise direction and maintained for 2 h. In group 3, the melatonin plus torsion/detorsion group, 50 mg/kgmelatonin was given intraperitoneally 30 min before detorsion. After 2 h, the spermatic cord was detorsed to determine the blood levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), protein carbonyl (PC), and nitric oxide (NO).Results: Serum MDA, NO, SOD, and PC levels increased significantly in group 2 when compared with the sham operation group (P 0.001). Administration of melatonin caused a significant decrease in lipid peroxidation and antioxidant enzyme activities when compared to the torsion group (P 0.05).Conclusions: Although this is an animal study, it can be suggested that melatonin may be used clinically as an antioxidant agent in the treatment of testicular torsion.