What is the protective effect of metformin on rat ovary against ischemia-reperfusion injury?

AIM: The aim of this study was to investigate the protective effect of metformin on the rat ovary against ischemia-reperfusion injury.

METHODS: Thirty-seven female Wistar albino rats were used in the study. The rats were divided into five groups, as follows: sham operation group (group 1); torsion group (group 2); torsion/detorsion + saline group (group 3); torsion/detorsion + low-dose metformin group (group 4); and torsion/detorsion + high-dose metformin group (group 5). The right ovary from each rat was evaluated histologically using hematoxylin-eosin staining, and the left ovaries were evaluated for tissue levels of the reduced-glutathione-to-oxidized-glutathione ratio, malondialdehyde (MDA), and caspase-3 activation.

RESULTS: The highest damage score was observed in group 3, and the lowest score was observed in group 1. The tissue caspase-3 activity levels of groups 2, 3, and 4 were significantly higher than those of group 1. The difference between group 1 and group 5 in terms of tissue caspase-3 activity was not significant (P = 0.4). The reduced-glutathione-to-oxidized-glutathione ratio of group 1 was significantly higher than the ratios found in groups 2, 3, and 4. The tissue MDA level of group 1 was significantly lower than the levels found in groups 2, 3, 4, and 5. The tissue MDA level of group 5 was significantly lower than the levels in groups 3 and 4.

CONCLUSION: From both histopathological and biochemical analyses, the results of the study demonstrated that metformin has beneficial effects when it comes to attenuating ovarian ischemia-reperfusion injury.