INVESTIGATIVE UROLOGY

Beneficial effect of taurine on testicular ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats
Wei SM, Yan ZZ, Zhou J
Department of Urology, Third Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, China
Urology. 2007; 70: 1237-42

• Objectives: To evaluate the effect of taurine, a potent antioxidant, on testicular ischemia-reperfusion injury due to excess reactive oxygen species produced by neutrophils after testicular torsion-detorsion.
• Methods: A total of 60 adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into three groups, each containing 20 rats. The control group underwent a sham operation of the left testis. In the torsion-detorsion group, the left testis was rotated 720 degrees counterclockwise for 2 hours. The treatment group underwent the same surgical procedure as the torsion-detorsion group, but taurine was administered intravenously at repair of the testicular torsion. One half of the rats in each group underwent orchiectomy 4 hours after detorsion for measurement of myeloperoxidase activity, an indicator of neutrophil accumulation in the testis, and for evaluation of tissue malondialdehyde, an indicator of intratesticular reactive oxygen species content. The remainder were killed at orchiectomy 3 months after detorsion for analysis of testicular spermatogenesis.
• Results: Unilateral testicular torsion-detorsion caused a significant increase in myeloperoxidase activity and the malondialdehyde level and a significant decrease in testicular spermatogenesis in the ipsilateral testes. The decrease in ipsilateral testicular spermatogenesis involved a reduction in testicular weight, mean seminiferous tubular diameter, number of germ cell layers, and mean testicular biopsy score. The rats treated with taurine had a significant decrease in myeloperoxidase activity and malondialdehyde level and a significant increase in testicular spermatogenesis in the ipsilateral testes compared with the torsion-detorsion group.
• Conclusions: The results of our study have shown that the administration of taurine exerts a beneficial effect on testicular ischemia-reperfusion injury. This effect might be partly the result of a reduction in reactive oxygen species generation by diminishing neutrophil recruitment to the testis.
  
  
• Editorial Comment
  Taurine (2-aminoethanesulfonic acid) is a major intracellular free beta-amino acid found in most mammalian tissues and is supposed to exerts cytoprotective properties such as antioxidation, intracellular calcium flux regulation, membrane stabilization, osmoregulation, and antiapoptosis. Exogenous administration of taurine has been shown to have a preventive and therapeutic effect on ischemia-reperfusion injury of the heart, liver, brain, and other organs. The authors investigated by the first time the role of taurine in testicular ischemia-reperfusion injury, by evaluating its effect on testicular spermatogenesis in a rat testicular ischemia-reperfusion injury model.
  The authors demonstrated the beneficial effect of taurine on testicular ischemia-reperfusion injury. One part of the beneficial effect could be a result of a reduction of reactive oxygen species generation by diminishing the neutrophil recruitment to the testis.
  The treatment with taurine (200 mg/kg) significantly rescued ipsilateral testicular spermatogenesis in the present study; nevertheless, the saved spermatogenesis was not restored to its normal value. Since the authors did not study the effect of taurine at different doses or different administration times, the effect of taurine could be affect by these aspects. So, additional studies taking into account these factors could led to elucidation of taurine´s optimal effect.

Dr. Francisco J.B. Sampaio
Full-Professor and Chair, Urogenital Research Unit
State University of Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil