Protective Effect of Udenafil Against Ischemia Reperfusion Injury Due to Testicular Torsion/Detorsion in Rat Model

Inflammation in cerebral ischemia reperfusion improved by avanafil via nod-like receptor protein-3 inflammasome: an experimental study in rats

OBJECTIVE

The aim of study was to investigate the effect of avanafil, a second-generation phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE5) inhibitor, on cerebral ischemia reperfusion (CI/R) model.

METHODS

32 male albino Wistar rats were used. Four groups were constituted, as I: the healthy (sham), II: the CI/R group, III: the CI/R +I 10 mg/kg avanafil group, and IV: the CI/R + 20 mg/kg avanafil group. Avanafil was administered twice via oral gavage, first shortly after ischemia reperfusion and once more after 12 h. The rats were euthanized after 24 h. Histopathological and Real Time PCR analyzes were performed on cerebral tissues.

RESULTS

IL-1β, NLRP3 and TNF-α mRNA expressions were statistically higher in the CI/R group when compared to healthy (sham) group. Conversely, the IL-1β, NLRP3, and TNF-α mRNA expressions were significantly decreased in both of the avanafil-treated groups when compared to CI/R group. Histopathological results showed that both doses of avanafil also decreased cellular damage in cerebral tissue that occurred after CI/R.

CONCLUSION

Avanafil, was found to have ameliorated inflammatory response and cellular injury caused by CI/R. The mRNA expression of IL-1β, NLRP3, and TNF-α decreased in the I/R groups and approached the control group levels with a high dose of avanafil.

Pathophysiology and management of testicular ischemia/reperfusion injury: Lessons from animal models

Testicular torsion is a urological emergency that involves the twisting of the spermatic cord along its course. Compelling pieces of evidence have implicated oxidative stress-sensitive signaling in pathogenesis of testicular I/R injury. Although, surgical detorsion is the mainstay management; blockade of the pathways involved in the pathogenesis may improve the surgical outcome. Experimental studies using various testicular I/R models have been reported in a bid to explore the mechanisms associated with testicular I/R and evaluate the benefits of potential therapeutic measures; however, most are limited by their shortcomings. Thus, this review was intended to describe the details of the available testicular I/R models as well as their merits and drawbacks, the pathophysiological basis and consequences of testicular I/R, and the pharmacological agents that have being proposed to confer testicular benefits against testicular I/R. This provides an understanding of the pathophysiological events and available models used in studying testicular I/R. In addition, this research provides evidence-based molecules with therapeutic potentials as well as their mechanisms of action in testicular I/R.

Oct4 reduction contributes to testicular injury of unilateral testicular torsion in mice model and apoptotic death of Sertoli cells through mediating CIP2A expression

This study explored the mechanism of ipsilateral testis injury after ipsilateral testicular torsion detorsion (T/D) and the potential testis-protective part of the octamer-binding transcription factor 4 (Oct4)-cancerous inhibitors of protein phosphatase 2A (CIP2A) axis in a T/D animal model and in ischemia-reperfusion (IR)-treated testicular Sertoli TM4 cells. Quantitative Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and western blot (WB) confirmed the downregulation of both CIP2A and Oct4 expression in the testicular tissue from T/D mice compared with sham-operated mice. T/D model was then established in mice with upregulated Oct4 expression in the testis. Oct4 elevation restored CIP2A expression in testes after T/D treatment. Furthermore, we observed that an increase in Oct4 ameliorated the testicular damage caused by torsion in the testis. Biochemical analysis indicated that T/D treatment increased serum anti-sperm antibody levels, but reduced testosterone levels. Meanwhile, in testicular tissue, reactive oxygen species (ROS), malondialdehyde (MDA), and activity of testicular myeloperoxidase (MPO) enzymes were promoted, while glutathione peroxidase activity (GPx) was decreased by T/D injury. Notably, testicular Oct4 restoration partially counteracted the effect of T/D treatment on these biochemical indices. Hypoxia/reoxygenation (HR) treatment was applied to TM4 cells to mimic TT injury in vitro. A gain-of-function study showed that Oct4 overexpression partly counteracted the promoting role of HR in cell damage, apoptosis, and oxidative stress in TM4 cells. These observations provide novel insights into the possible biochemical mechanism underlying the mediation of the Oct4-CIP2A axis in T/D injury.

The Effect of Udenafil on Stasis Zone in an Experimental Burn Model

BACKGROUND

Management of the burn injuries is still a problematic issue because the stasis zone may become necrotic. We hypothesized that udenafil, a potent phospodiesterase inhibitor, can be beneficial in burn treatment by enhancing the viability of the stasis zone.

METHODS

Fifteen Wistar rats were randomly divided into 3 groups. Comb burn injury model was conducted bilaterally on the back of rats in each subject. Group 1 received 1 mL/d of saline orally for 7 days. Group 2 received 10 mg/kg per day of udenafil for 7 days. Group 3 received 20 mg/kg per day of udenafil for 7 days. At the end of seventh day, gross morphological and histopathological samples of stasis zone survival were evaluated.

RESULTS

Histopathological examination of groups 2 and 3 revealed that the stasis zone was mostly viable. The mean necrotic area and severity of inflammation was significantly higher in the control group compared with the treatment groups. Significant differences were determined in treatment groups compared with control group in terms of vital stasis zone area and histopathological parameters.

CONCLUSIONS

Udenafil treatment improved tissue survival on zone of stasis in. Future experimental studies should be conducted to develop zone of stasis treatment protocols combining udenafil with potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant drugs.

Vitamin D3 Prevents the Deleterious Effects of Testicular Torsion on Testis by Targeting miRNA-145 and ADAM17: In Silico and In Vivo Study

Testicular torsion (TT) is the most common urological emergency in children and young adults that can lead to infertility in many cases. The ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury due to TT has been implicated in the pathogenesis of testicular damage. The main pathological mechanisms of contralateral injury after ipsilateral TT are not fully understood. In the presented study, we investigated the molecular and microscopic basis of ipsilateral and contralateral testicular injury following ipsilateral testicular torsion detorsion (T/D) and explored the possible protective role of vitamin D3. The biochemical analysis indicated that IR injury following T/D significantly decreased the activity of testicular glutathione peroxidase (GPx) enzyme, level of serum testosterone, serum inhibin B, and expression of testicular miRNA145, while increased the activity of testicular myeloperoxidase (MPO) enzyme, level of testicular malondialdehyde (MDA), level of serum antisperm-antibody (AsAb), and expression of ADAM-17. The histological and semen analysis revealed that torsion of the testis caused damages on different tissues in testis. Interestingly, administration of vitamin D3 prior to the IR injury reversed the deterioration effect of IR injury on the testicular tissues as indicated by biochemical and histological analysis which revealed normal appearance of the seminiferous tubules with an apparent decrease in collagen fiber deposition in both ipsilateral and contralateral testes. Our results revealed that the protective effect of vitamin D3 treatment could be attributed to target miRNA145 and ADAM17 protein. To further investigate these findings, we performed a detailed molecular modelling study in order to explore the binding affinity of vitamin D3 toward ADAM17 protein. Our results revealed that vitamin D3 has the ability to bind to the active site of ADAM17 protein via a set of hydrophobic and hydrophilic interactions with high docking score. In conclusion, this study highlights the protective pharmacological application of vitamin D3 to ameliorate the damages of testicular T/D on the testicular tissues via targeting miRNA145 and ADAM17 protein.

Neuroprotective effect of roflumilast under cerebral ischaemia/reperfusion injury in juvenile rats through NLRP-mediated inflammatory response inhibition

This study aims to investigate the protective effect of roflumilast, a phosphodiesterase (PDE)-4 enzyme inhibitor, and demonstrate its possible role in the development prevention of cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury (CI/RI) after stroke induced by carotid artery ligation in juvenile rats. The rats were randomly divided into five groups: healthy group without any treatment, healthy group administered with 1 mg/kg roflumilast, CI group not administered with roflumilast, CI group administered with 0.5 mg/kg roflumilast, and CI group administered with 1 mg/kg roflumilast. In the CI groups, reperfusion was achieved 2h after ischemia induction; in the roflumilast groups, this drug was intraperitoneally administered immediately after reperfusion and at the 12th hour. At the end of 24h, the rats were sacrificed and their brain tissues removed for examination. The mRNA expressions obtained with real-time PCR of IL-1β, TNF-α, and NLRP3 significantly increased in the CI/RI-induced groups compared with the control group, and this increase was significantly lower in the groups administered with roflumilast compared with the CI/RI-induced groups. Moreover, ELISA revealed that both IL-1 β and IL-6 brain levels were significantly higher in the CI/RI-induced groups than in the controls. This increase was significantly lower in the groups administered with roflumilast compared with the CI/RI-induced groups. Histopathological studies revealed that the values closest to those of the healthy group were obtained from the roflumilast groups. Nissl staining revealed that the Nissl bodies manifested normal density in the healthy and roflumilast-administered healthy groups, but were rare in the CI/RI-induced groups. Roflumilast treatment increased these decreased Nissl bodies with increasing doses. Observations indicated that the Nissl body density was close to the value in the healthy group in the CI/RI-induced group administered with 1 mg/kg roflumilast. Overall, roflumilast reduced cellular damage caused by CI/RI in juvenile rats, and this effect may be mediated by NLRP3.