ORIGINAL PAPER The role of cell adhesion molecules in ischemic epididymal injury Hayrettin Ozturk Æ Hulya Ozturk Æ Ali Ihsan Dokucu Received: 31 January 2006 / Accepted: 22 May 2007 / Published online: 27 July 2007 Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2007 Abstract Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the role of adhesion molecules in epididymal injury induced by ischemia-reperfusion (I-R) in the rats. Study design About 20 male Sprague-Dawley rats were separated into two groups. A sham operation was performed in group 1 (control). In group 2 (I-R), following 6 h of unilateral spermatic cord torsion, 1-h detorsion of the testis was performed. Then, epidid- ymides were removed to measure the tissue levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) and to make histological examination. Results Malondialdehyde values increased in group 2. In group 2, the rats demonstrated significant disorganization of the epithelium and loss of microvilli in the epididymal tissue. No abnormal microscopic findings of the epididymis of the rats in the control group. The tenascin expression in the interstitial area of the epididymis was intense in group 2. Intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) expression by intense brown staining was seen along the basement mem- brane in epididymal tissue from I-R group rats. The microvillus sites of the epithelia in I-R group were stained mildly by lectin. Conclusion The increased expression of adhesion molecules found in epididymal injury induced during of postischemic reperfusion may implicate impor- tance of inflammatory infiltration. Keywords Testicular and spermatic cord torsion Á Adhesion molecules Á Rat Introduction Testicular torsion is a urologic urgent situation that may lead to irreversible ischemic testicular injury [1]. A number of studies have obviously established that testicular torsion produces severe destruction in spermatogenesis, and several enzymes and drugs have been used to prevent such injury in animal models and humans [2–4]. Damage to endothelial cells following ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) of other tissues such as cardiac and renal tissues after acute myocardial infarction or coronary artery disease, phases of ischemic acute renal failure and inflamma- tory diseases results in cell surface expression of cell adhesion molecules involved in PMN recruitment H. Ozturk (&) Department of Pediatric Surgery, Abanty Izzet Baysal University, Medical School, Bolu 14280, Turkey e-mail: ozturkhayrettin@hotmail.com H. Ozturk Department of Pediatric Surgery, Diyarbakir Children Hospital, Diyarbakir, Turkey A. I. Dokucu Department of Pediatric Surgery, Sisli Etfal Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey 123 Int Urol Nephrol (2008) 40:137–142 DOI 10.1007/s11255-007-9243-5