title: Acute histopathological responses of testicular tissues after different fractionated abdominal irradiation in rats.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare the effects of different fractionated doses of abdominal radiation therapy on acute histopathological responses of testicular tissues in rats.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-three 3-week-old Wistar albino rats were randomized into 6 groups: group 1 (n = 5), control; group 2 (n = 4), hypofractionated total abdominal irradiation (TAI) of 6 Gy/1 fraction/day for 2 days; group 3 (n = 6), hypofractionated TAI of 4 Gy/1 fraction/day for 3 days; group 4 (n = 6), hypofractionated TAI of 3 Gy/1 fraction/day for 4 days; group 5 (n = 6), conventionally fractionated TAI of 2 Gy/1 fraction/day for 6 days; group 6 (n = 6), conventionally fractionated TAI of 1.7 Gy/1 fraction/day for 7 days. Mean epithelial length and diameter of seminiferous tubules of testicular tissues were determined after euthanasia.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Initially, a highly significant decrease in both the mean tubular diameter and epithelial height of the seminiferous tubules was demonstrated in all irradiated rats compared with the control group. No significant differences regarding both damage parameters were found between different hypofractionated radiation therapies. Both conventional radiation therapies reduced the epithelial height and mean diameter of the seminiferous tubules to a lesser extent when compared with 6 Gy/1 fraction/day hypofractionated therapy. It was further shown that parameter values were comparable between rats that received 3 Gy/day hypofractionated therapy and rats that received either of the two conventional therapies. Furthermore, although 4 Gy/day hypofractionation decreased tubular diameter and epithelial length to a greater degree compared with the conventional therapy of 1.7 Gy/1 fraction/day, no statistically significant difference was found when compared with conventional therapy of 2 Gy/1 fraction/day. Additionally, no statistically significant difference was demonstrated between the two types of conventional radiotherapy application.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present study demonstrated that hypofractionated abdominal irradiation leads to more prominent tissue damage in the testes than conventional irradiation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Trakya University , Edirne , Turkey.
authors.forename: Hakan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Akdere
authors.forename: Vuslat
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Yurut Caloglu
authors.forename: Ebru
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tastekin
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Caloglu
authors.forename: Gorkem
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Turkkan
authors.forename: Meric
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mericliler
authors.forename: Kamil
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mehmet Burgazli
mesh_terms: D000005:Abdomen / Q000528:radiation effects*; D000818:Animals; D019583:Dose Fractionation, Radiation; D008297:Male; D011830:Radiation Effects; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013737:Testis / Q000473:pathology / Q000528:radiation effects*
keywords: Conventional; external beam radiotherapy; hypofractionated; radiotherapy; testis