The suppressive effects of Simvastatin on fertility impairment induced by experimental unilateral testicular ischemia-reperfusion in mice

The basic pathophysiologic phenomenon in testicular torsion, a common urologic emergency, is ischemia followed by reperfusion. In this study, we evaluated the effect(s) of simvastatin (SIM), a lipid lowering agent with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, on mouse epididymal sperm fertilizing potential and the subsequent in vitro embryo development in experimentally-induced unilateral testicular ischemia-reperfusion (IR).
Adult male mice were divided into four groups (n = 6, each). Following anaesthesia, IR was induced by clamping the left testicular vessels with an atraumatic microvascular clamp for 30 minutes in the IR group. In IR䢃 group, in addition, the mice received SIM (20 mg/kg per day) orally for 3 days starting from the day of induction of the experimental IR. A vehicle-treated control group and a SIM-only treated group were also included. Ipsilateral and contralateral epididymal sperms fertilizing capacity was analyzed in four groups after 35 days.
Significant reduction in fertilization as well as blastulation rates were observed in the IR group. However, the SIM treatment considerably attenuated the IR-induced negative alterations in the above-mentioned parameters.
These findings revealed the repro-protective effects of SIM on the murine model of IR through the inhibition of oxidative injuries and inflammatory reactions.