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Copyright ©The Author(s) 2017. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Methodol. Jun 26, 2017; 7(2): 37-45
Published online Jun 26, 2017. doi: 10.5662/wjm.v7.i2.37
Antioxidants in experimental ischemia-reperfusion injury of the testis: Where are we heading towards?
George Vaos, Nick Zavras
George Vaos, Nick Zavras, Department of Paediatric Surgery, “ATTIKON” University General Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, School of Medicine, 12462 Haidari, Athens, Greece
Author contributions: All authors equally contributed to this paper with conception and design of the study, literature review and analysis, drafting and critical revision and editing, and final approval of the final version.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No potential conflicts of interest. No financial support.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: George Vaos, MD, PhD, FEBPS, Professor, Department of Paediatric Surgery, “ATTIKON” University General Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, School of Medicine, 1 Rimini Street, 12462 Haidari, Athens, Greece. gvaos@med.uoa.gr
Telephone: +30-210-5831299 Fax: +30-210-5326411
Received: January 28, 2017
Peer-review started: February 8, 2017
First decision: March 28, 2017
Revised: April 21, 2017
Accepted: May 12, 2017
Article in press: May 15, 2017
Published online: June 26, 2017
Processing time: 142 Days and 12.4 Hours
Abstract

Testicular torsion (TT) is a medical emergency that primary affects newborns and young adolescents. It causes testicular injury due to the torsion of the spermatic cord and its components, initially in the venous blood flow and finally in the arterial blood flow. Prompt diagnosis and early surgical management are necessary in managing this urgent situation. The process of the pathophysiological events in ischemia-reperfusion is multifactorial and deals with the perception of the oxidative stress responsible for the consequences of ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) stress following TT. Duration and severity of torsion also play a significant role in the oxidative stress. A detrimental result of the defense system of the testes takes place resulting finally in testicular atrophy and impaired function. Antioxidant factors have been experimentally studied in an effort to front this state. They have been classified as endogenous or exogenous antioxidants. Endogenous antioxidants comprise a structure of enzymic enzymatic and non-enzymic enzymatic particles presented within cytoplasm and numerous other subunits in the cells. Exogenous antioxidants include a variety of natural and pharmaceutical agents that may prevent or ameliorate the harmful effects of I/R injury. In this study we review those factors and their ability to enhance the oxidative status of the testis. A feature insight into where we are heading is attempted.

Keywords: Testis; Torsion; Experimental; Ischemia-reperfusion injury; Antioxidants

Core tip: Testicular torsion is an emergency condition, most commonly seen in newborns and adolescents, which can be considered as an ischemia-reperfusion injury. We provide an overview of the molecular pathogenesis of the disease, and the current evidence of antioxidants use in the experimental torsion-detorsion situation. Possible adaptation of the experimental factors in the clinical practice is discussed.