Protective effects of N-acetylcysteine on experimentally undescended testis.

PURPOSE: We evaluated the efficacy of N-acetylcysteine for testicular damage induced by undescended testes in rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Flutamide was injected in the abdomen of pregnant rats daily from days 14 to 20 of gestation. Male offspring with cryptorchidism were randomly divided into 2 groups. Healthy male rats without undescended testes comprised the control group (group 1). Group 2 (undescended testes without N-acetylcysteine) received no treatment. Group 3 (undescended testes plus N-acetylcysteine) received intraperitoneal N-acetylcysteine daily. At 70 days after experiment initiation the testes were removed for histopathological and biochemical analysis. RESULTS: Mean malonyl dialdehyde values were lowest in group 1 and highest in group 2. In group 3 malonyl dialdehyde levels were significantly lower than in group 2 (p <0.001). Conversely, mean glutathione peroxidase was highest in group 1 and lowest in group 2. Glutathione peroxidase levels in group 3 were significantly higher than in group 2 (p <0.001). Histopathological differences between groups 1 and 3 in the modified Johnsen score were not significant (p = 0.041). However, the differences between these groups and group 2 were significant (p <0.001). The median apoptotic cell count did not differ between groups 1 and 3 but it was significantly higher in group 2 than in the other groups (p = 0.03 and <0.001, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: N-acetylcysteine may alleviate undescended testis induced damage to testes through its antioxidant effects. The underlying mechanism of these effects merits further investigation. Long-term studies are also needed as well as comparative animal and human studies.