MELATONIN TREATMENT PREVENTS THE PROGRESSION OF EXPERIMENTAL AUTOIMMUNE ORCHITIS IN RATS

CINTHIA SOLEDAD MÉNDEZ; GONZÁLEZ, LUCAS; GUALDONI G; IMSEN MERCEDES; AMARILLA, MARIA SOFÍA; SOBARZO CRISTIAN MARCELO,; LUSTIG, LIVIA; JACOBO PATRICIA VERÓNICA; THEAS MARÍA SUSANA

Mar del Plata

Congreso; LVIII Reunion Anual de la Sociedad de Investigación Clínica; 2018

SAIC

Testicular inflammation is frequently associated to infertility. Wedeveloped an experimental model of autoimmune orchitis (EAO) inrats. In EAO interstitial lymphomonocytes increased from focal (50-60days, d) to severe EAO (70-80d), concomitantly with apoptosisof post-meiotic germ cells (GC) and pre-meiotic GC cycle arrest,leading to aspermatogenesis. Melatonin (MLT) is a hormone withanti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic functions. The aimof this study was to evaluate whether MLT prevents the progressionof testicular damage and inflammation of rats with focal EAO. AdultWistar rats were immunized with testicular homogenate and adjuvants or not treated (Normal group, N). 60d after the first immunization, EAO rats were semicastrated and treated daily with MLT (10mg/kg i.p, MLT group) or vehicle (1% methanol in saline, S Group) for20d. Testicular histopathological analysis was performed to determine the inflammation and orchitis score (EAO=V+T, where V is afactor from 0 to 9 depending on the % of sloughed seminiferous tubules (ST) and T a factor that considers the severity of ST damage).The incidence of orchitis at 60d in the S group was 100% (7/7) andin the MLT group 89% (8/9). N group did not develop orchitis (EAOscore:0.0). EAO and inflammation score was only determined in ratsthat developed EAO at 60d. EAO score significantly increased in