Protective Effects of Silymarin on Spermatogen-esis Parameters following Testicular Torsion-Detorsion in Mouse

Background: Testicular torsion (TT) is an emergency and acute event that occurs most often in infants and adolescents, and if not treated promptly, it often leads to infertility. Detorsion re-sults the blood reperfusion and ultimately more damage occurs to the testicle. Silymarin is a polyphenolic flavonoid that plays an important role in the improvement of many diseases due to its antioxidant properties. The aim of this study was to investigate the histological changes of the testis in mice that are affected by unilateral testicular Torsion-Detorsion (TD), and also to evaluate the protective effects of silymarin on the damage induced by TD. Materials and Methods: In this study, 32 adult male NMRI mice were randomly divided into four groups. Group 1: con-trol sham, Group 2: silymarin, in two groups without testicu-lar torsion application, Group 3: Torsion Detorsion (TD) and Group 4: TD plus silymarin (TD+S). The testicular torsion was performed by rotating the 720 ° spermatic cord the left testis in a counterclockwise direction. After 1 hour, with a rotation opposite to the previous direction, Detorsion was done. After the detorsion, the animals received 50 mg / kg of silymarin via gavage for 35 days. At the end of experimental, all of the left testicles were removed. After fixation in 10% formal saline, paraffin sections were prepared and stained with hematoxylin-eosin. Histomorphometrical studies were performed to evaluate the spermatogenesis process. Data were analyzed by ANOVA and post hoc Tukey test (P <0.05).Results: The mean number of spermatogonia, primary sper-matocytes, rounded and elongated Spermatide in TD groups were reduced in comparison to the other groups. Silymarin in TD+S group significantly ameliorated spermatogenesis param-eters compared to the TD group (P<0.05).Conclusion: The results showed that spermatogenesis param-eters improved with the administration of silymarin. This may be due to the antioxidant effects of silymarin.

Keywords:

Silymarin , Spermatogenesis , Torsion , Testis