Published online Jun 25, 2026. doi: 10.5527/wjn.v15.i2.116474
Revised: December 30, 2025
Accepted: February 12, 2026
Published online: June 25, 2026
Processing time: 212 Days and 14.9 Hours
Testicular ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury may affect distant organs. During I/R, metabolites formed in the affected organ are released into the circulation; thus, non-ischemic organs, such as the kidneys and lungs, become involved in the inflammatory process, even if they are not primarily affected. Damage from testicular torsion/detorsion (T/D) models has been shown to affect kidneys. There is a need to examine the nephroprotective effect of boric acid (BA), which is known to have antioxidant effects, on kidney damage.
To investigate kidney damage in a rat testicular T/D model and the effectiveness of BA on this distant organ damage.
Twenty-four male Wistar albino rats were divided into four groups (n = 6 each)-control (group C), BA (group BA), T/D (group I/R), BA-T/D (group BA-I/R). In all groups, the scrotum was cut longitudinally, and the testis was dissected. No medication was administered to groups C and group I/R. Groups BA and group BA-I/R were administered 50 mg/kg BA intraperitoneally half an hour before the surgical procedure. The testicular T/D model was applied to groups I/R and group BA-I/R. The malondialdehyde (MDA) level, catalase, glutathione S-transferase, and paraoxonase-1 (PON-1) enzyme activities were measured in kidney tissue. Additionally, sections were taken and evaluated for histopathological examination.
An increase in MDA levels and a decrease in PON-1 activity were detected in the I/R group compared to the control group (P = 0.001, P = 0.002, respectively). MDA levels were found to be significantly lower in the BA-I/R group than in the I/R group (P = 0.041). PON-1 enzyme activity was found to be significantly higher in the BA-I/R group than in the I/R group (P = 0.048). The light microscopy examination showed an increase in glomerular vacuolization, tubular dilatation, vascular vacuolization and hypertrophy (VVH), and tubular cell degeneration and necrosis damage scores in the I/R group compared to the control group (P = 0.003, P = 0.005, P = 0.008, and P < 0.001, respectively). In the I/R group treated with BA, tubular dilatation and VVH scores decreased compared to the I/R group (P = 0.037 and P = 0.048, respectively).
These findings show that the testicular T/D model in rats causes kidney damage, and BA administration reduces this damage in the kidneys.
Core Tip: Ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury is a serious problem that is encountered in several clinical settings. Testicular torsion/detorsion (T/D) is one example. It is known that damage to distant organs can occur following I/R. Significant scientific data and experimental studies demonstrate the antioxidant effects of boric acid (BA), such as increasing antioxidant enzyme levels and reducing oxidative stress. The protective role of BA against potential kidney damage has been investigated. These findings suggest that BA may protect against distant I/R damage from testicular T/D. This may facilitate further research into the use of BA as a treatment for I/R injury.