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An investigation of the effects of N-acetylcysteine on radiotherapy-induced testicular injury in rats

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Abstract

According to data issued by the International Agency for Research on Cancer in 2012, the estimated number of new cases of all types of cancer worldwide was estimated to exceed 10 million, and 6 million of whom receive radiotherapy. Radiotherapy is the treatment of cancer using ionizing radiation. Our study investigated the effects of x-radiation resulting from radiotherapy (RT) on the testis at the molecular level, and prospectively considered the potential protective characteristics of antioxidants against testicular damage resulting from x-radiation. Forty male Sprague Dawley rats were allocated into five groups, control (group 1), abdominopelvic region 2-Gy-ionizing radiation (group 2), whole-body 6-Gy irradiation (group 3), 2 Gy abdominopelvic region irradiation and 300 mg/kg NAC treatment (group 4), and 6-Gy whole-body irradiation and 300 mg/kg NAC treatment (group 5). Disorganization and vacuolization were observed in the epithelial layer in atrophic seminiferous tubules in the only ionizing radiation (IR) groups. In addition, Johnsen’s score decreased in the only IR groups, while testis tissue malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione (GSH) tissue levels increased. N-Acetylcysteine (NAC) treatment groups Johnsen’s score and tissue GSH levels increased than only IR groups. On the other hand, tissue MDA levels decreased in the NAC treatment groups. The findings showed that ionizing radiation caused apoptosis in germinal epithelial cells led to the oxidative stress-mediated testicular injury. On the other hand, NAC may be useful in the prevention of testicular injury-suppressed ROS production.

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Author contribution statement

AT conceived and designed research. AT, TM. SR, and LT conducted experiments. AT and HAU contributed new reagents or analytical tools. AT, TM, FM, HAU, SR, and LT analyzed data. TM, FM, SR, and AT wrote the manuscript. All authors read and approved the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology, Recep Tayyip Erdogan University, 53100, Rize, Turkey

    Atilla Topcu

  2. Faculty of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Recep Tayyip Erdogan University, 53100, Rize, Turkey

    Filiz Mercantepe

  3. Faculty of Medicine, Department of Radiation Oncology, Recep Tayyip Erdogan University, 53100, Rize, Turkey

    Sema Rakici

  4. Faculty of Medicine, Department of Histology and Embryology, Recep Tayyip Erdogan University, 53100, Rize, Turkey

    Levent Tumkaya & Tolga Mercantepe

  5. Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medical Biochemistry, Recep Tayyip Erdogan University, 53100, Rize, Turkey

    Huseyin Avni Uydu

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  1. Atilla Topcu
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  2. Filiz Mercantepe
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  3. Sema Rakici
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Correspondence to Atilla Topcu.

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Animal experiments and procedures were performed in accordance with the national guidelines for the use and care of laboratory animals. The study protocol was approved by the local animal care committee of Recep Tayyip Erdogan University (2018/7-14.02.2018).

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Topcu, A., Mercantepe, F., Rakici, S. et al. An investigation of the effects of N-acetylcysteine on radiotherapy-induced testicular injury in rats. Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Arch Pharmacol 392, 147–157 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00210-018-1581-6

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