Protective effect of infliximab on ischemia/reperfusion injury in a rat ovary model: biochemical and histopathologic evaluation

ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to investigate the effect of infliximab on experimentally induced ovarian ischemia/reperfusion injury (IRi).Study designA total of 42 female rats were equally divided into 6 experimental groups; group 1: sham operation, group 2: 3-h ischemia, group 3 and 4: 3-h ischemia, 3-h reperfusion, group 5 and 6: 3-h ischemia, 24 h reperfusion. In group 4 and group 6, 30 min before reperfusion, infliximab was administered intraperitoneally at a dose of 5 mg/kg. Bilateral ovaries were removed for histopathologic and biochemical analysis. Serum MDA (sMDA), tissue MDA (tMDA), serum NO (sNO), tissue NO (tNO) and serum catalase concentrations were analyzed. Tissue damage of ovarian tissue was scored by histological examination.ResultsThe infliximab administration significantly lowered the sNO, tNO and sMDA concentrations in group 4 compared to group 3 (p = 0.041, p = 0.025 and p = 0.035, respectively). sNO, tNO and sMDA concentrations were also lower in group 6 when compared to group 5, but this differences were not significant (p > 0.05). On the other hand, tMDA concentrations were lower in infliximab-applied groups when compared to ischemia/reperfusion groups (group 3 vs. 4 and 5 vs. 6) (p = 0.045 and p = 0.048, respectively). Moreover, histopathologic tissue damage scores in infliximab administration groups were significantly lower than in ischemia/reperfusion groups (p < 0.001).ConclusionInfliximab attenuates I/R-induced ovarian tissue injury in rats subjected to ischemia/reperfusion.