The protective effect of G-CSF on experimental ischemia/reperfusion injury in rat ovary.

OBJECTIVE: This experimental study was designed to evaluate the effect of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) in ovarian ischemia and ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury.

STUDY DESIGN: Forty-eight female adult Sprague-Dawley albino rats were divided into six groups as Group 1: sham, Group 2: torsion, Group 3: detorsion, Group 4: sham + G-CSF, Group 5: torsion + G-CSF, and Group 6: detorsion + G-CSF. Except for Groups 1 and 4, all groups underwent a dnexal torsion bilaterally for 3 h. Adnexal detorsion was applied to Groups 3 and 6 for 3 h after a 3-h torsion period. The intraperitoneal injection of G-CSF (100 IU/kg) was administered 30 min previously in Group 4, 5 and 6. At the end of the study process the animals were euthanized and their ovaries were removed for histopathological and biochemical analysis. Total oxidant status (TOS), total antioxidative status and oxidative stress index (OSI) concentrations were determined and compared. Histopathological examination of ovaries was performed for the presence of interstitial edema, congestion, hemorrhage and loss of cohesion to determine tissue damage.

RESULTS: In Group 3, 4, 5 and 6, TOS, OSI and total histopathological scores of ovarian tissue were higher than in the sham group (p < 0.05). G-CSF administration decreased mean TOS and OSI levels significantly when compared with the controls (p < 0.001, p < 0.001, respectively). There was a strong correlation between the total histopathological scores of I/R injury and OSI (r = 0.862, p < 0.001). The total histopathological scores for the rats conservatively treated with G-CSF were lower than those of the control groups.

CONCLUSION: G-CSF is effective for the prevention of ischemia and ischemia/reperfusion-induced damage in rat ovary.