title: L-alanyl-glutamine dipeptide pretreatment attenuates ischemia-reperfusion injury in rat testis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the effect of alanyl-glutamine dipeptide (L-Ala-Gln) pre-treatment on ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury after unilateral testicular torsion-detorsion in a comparative controlled experiment.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-eight rats (150-200 g) randomly distributed into 4 groups (n=12), and distributed in 2 subgroups (n=6) each, were treated with saline 2.0 ml (G-1, G-3) or L-Ala-Gln 20%, 0.75g/kg dissolved in saline (total volume 2.0 ml) administered in the left saphenous vein 30 minutes before ischemia. Anesthetized rats were subjected to I/R induced by torsion (720°) of the right spermatic cord lasting 1h (G-1, G-2) or 3 hours (G-3, G4). Anesthesia was again applied at the end of ischemia time (T-0) for testis detorsion and 6 hours later (T-6) for orchiectomy. All operations were performed on the right testes through transverse scrotal incisions. Right orchiectomy was carried out at the end of ischemia (T-0), and 6 hours later (T-6) to evaluate the concentrations of malondialdehyde (MDA) and reduced glutathione (GSH) in the testis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Pretreatment with L-Ala-Gln reduced MDA contents in rat testis at the end of ischemia lasting 3 hours. There was significant increase of GSH levels in T-6 time-point after 1 hour of ischemia. GSH levels also increased in T-0 and T-6 time-points in rats subjected to ischemia for 3 hours.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  L-Ala-Gln administered before torsion/detorsion of the spermatic cord decreases lipid peroxidation during ischemia and protects the testis from oxidative stress by upregulating GSH levels during reperfusion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Federal University of Ceara, Rua Professor Costa Mendes 1608, Fortaleza-CE, Brazil. paulo.vasconcelos@ufc.br
authors.forename: João Paulo de Vasconcelos
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Leitão
authors.forename: Jefferson Menezes Viana
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: Raquel Cavalcante de
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Vasconcelos
authors.forename: José Huygens Parente
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Garcia
authors.forename: Paulo Roberto Leitão de
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Vasconcelos
authors.forename: Sergio Botelho
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Guimarães
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004151:Dipeptides / Q000097:blood / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005978:Glutathione / Q000097:blood; D007511:Ischemia / Q000150:complications*; D019194:Ischemic Preconditioning / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008315:Malondialdehyde / Q000097:blood; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D015427:Reperfusion Injury / Q000517:prevention & control*; D013086:Spermatic Cord Torsion / Q000150:complications; D013737:Testis / Q000098:blood supply*; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D004151:Dipeptides; D008315:Malondialdehyde; D005978:Glutathione; C054122:alanylglutamine