Testicular torsion causes an enhanced formation of
reactive oxygen species, which contributes to the pathophysiology of tissue damage. The aim of this study was to investigate the protective effect of
melatonin on
testicular torsion/detorsion-induced
ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. A total of 24 male Wistar albino rats were divided into three groups of 8 animals each: control, I/R, and I/R treated with
melatonin. The
ischemia period was 5 h and
orchiectomy was performed after 5 h of detorsion.
Melatonin (10 mg/kg, intraperitoneally [i.p.]) was administrated only once, 40 min prior to detorsion. Spermatogenesis and mean seminiferous tubule diameter (MSTD) were significantly decreased in the I/R groups were compared to the control group. Furthermore, the
melatonin treated animals showed an improved histological appearance in the I/R group. Our data indicate a significant reduction in the activity of TUNEL; there was a rise in the expression of
proliferating cell nuclear antigen (
PCNA) and
testosterone in testes tissue of the I/R group treated with
melatonin therapy. Electron microscopy of the testes of the rats demonstrated that pretreatment with
melatonin was particularly effective in preventing mitochondrial degeneration, dilatation of SER, and enlarged intercellular spaces in both Sertoli and spermatid cells in the I/R treated animals. We believe that further preclinical research into the utility of
melatonin may indicate its usefulness as a potential treatment on testes injury after I/R in rats.