Effect of topical sildenafil on wound healing and oxidative stress in rats.

BACKGROUND: In this study, the effects of topical sildenafil applications on oxidative damage levels and antioxidative metabolism and their contribution to wound healing and treatment were investigated. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 24 healthy male rats aged 16-18 weeks, each weighing 200-250 g, were randomly divided into three groups: Group A received a saline solution, Group B received an epithelializing cream, and Group C received sildenafil cream. Following skin preparation and anesthesia, 6 mm diameter punch biopsies created wounds on the rats' backs. The treatment protocol involved daily topical dressing for seven days, after which tissue and blood samples were collected for analysis. Tissue samples underwent histopathological examination, while malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and catalase activities in wound tissue and blood samples were measured. RESULTS: The wound surface area created by the punch decreased in all groups by the end of the seventh day; However, the degree of wound healing differed in favor of the sildenafil cream group. Histopathologically, according to Greenhalgh's Modified Wound Healing Scoring System, all findings were graded. In the Anova test, the differences between glutathione peroxidase, catalase, and malondialdehyde levels in the serum and tissue of rats was statistically significant (P < 0.05), whereas superoxide dismutase levels were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). In the Bonferroni test, the serum CAT levels between groups A and C (P = 0.003), between groups B and C (P = 0.035), and the serum MDA levels between groups A and B (P = 0.018) and between groups A and C (P = 0.001) were found to be significant statistically. By the way, the results between tissue CAT levels in the B and C groups (P = 0.020) and between tissue GPx levels (P = 0.001) in all groups were also significant statistically. CONCLUSIONS: The study findings indicated that topical application of sildenafil led to noteworthy alterations in serum and tissue antioxidative metabolism as well as oxidative damage levels among rats with induced wounds. Sildenafil may be useful in wound treatment; it has been concluded that it is capable of directing new studies to be carried out.

The effect of taurine on flap perfusion and viability in random pattern flaps in rats.

BACKGROUND: In present study, the effect of taurine on flap perfusion and viability was examined using the modified random pattern dorsal flap model (DFM). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eighteen rats were included and divided equally (n=9) to taurine treatment and control groups in this study. Taurine treatments were given orally at a dose of 100 mg/kg/day. Taurine group received taurine, starting 3 days before the operation till the postoperative 3rd day. Angiographic images were recorded when the flaps were sutured back and on postoperative 5th and 7th days. Necrosis calculations were made with all the images obtained by the digital camera and the indocyanine green angiography. Fluorescence intensity, fluorescence filling rate and flow rate of DFM were calculated by the SPY device and the SPY-Q software. All flaps were analyzed histopathologically, also. RESULTS: Perioperative taurine treatment significantly reduced necrosis rates and increased the fluorescence density, the fluorescence filling rate and the flap filling rates in the DFM (p<0.05). Reduced amounts of necrosis, ulcer and polymorphonuclear leukocyte supported the beneficial effect of taurine histopathologically (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Taurine may be used as an effective medical agent for prophylactic treatment options in flap surgery.

Dietary high-fructose reduces barrier proteins and activates mitogenic signalling in the testis of a rat model: Regulatory effects of kefir supplementation.

There are limited data on the influence of fructose rich diet on the male reproductive system. Kefir may have health beneficial effects, but its mechanism of action remains mostly unclear. Herein, we investigated the impact of dietary high fructose on tight junction proteins and mitogenic pathways in rat testis as well as their modulation by kefir supplementation. Twenty-two male Wistar rats (4 weeks old) were divided into the following three groups: Control; Fructose; Fructose + Kefir. Fructose was added to drinking water at concentration of 20% and administered to the rats for 15 weeks and kefir was supplemented by gavage once a day during final 6 weeks. Dietary fructose-induced testicular degeneration was associated with the downregulation of the blood-testis barrier proteins, claudin-11 and N-cadherin as well as SIRT1 expression in testicular tissue of rats. However, p38MAPK, p-p38MAPK and p-ERK1/2 levels were increased in testis of fructose-fed rats. Interestingly, JNK1 and p-JNK1 protein levels were decreased following this dietary intervention. Raf1, ERK1/2, and caspase 3 and TUNEL staining of the testis reveal the activation of apoptosis due to fructose intake. Kefir supplementation markedly promoted the expression of claudin-11, SIRT1, JNK1 and p-JNK1 but suppressed testicular mitogenic and apoptotic factors in fructose-fed rats.