Effects of montelukast and zileuton on testicular torsion/detorsion injury in rats

The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the effects of 5‐lipoxygenase enzyme (5‐LO) inhibitor zileuton and cysteinyl leukotriene receptor (CysLT1R) antagonist montelukast in testicular torsion/detorsion (T/D) injury model in rats. Rats were anaesthetised with 75 mg kg^?1 ketamine hydrochloride and 8 mg kg^?1 xylazine intraperitoneal before the operation. Torsion was created by rotating the right testis 720° clockwise and maintained by fixing the testis. The rats were treated with CysLT1R antagonist montelukast (10 mg kg^?1; i.p.), 5‐LO inhibitor zileuton (3 mg kg^?1; i.p.), and vehicle, at 30 min prior detorsion. After 1 h of torsion, the testis was counter‐rotated to the natural position and replaced into the scrotum. Malondialdehyde (MDA) level was measured in testicular tissue after 3 h of reperfusion. Histological examination was performed after 24 h of reperfusion. T/D caused a significant increase in MDA level and histopathological injury in testes. Montelukast and zileuton treatments prevented the T/D‐induced augmentation in MDA levels. Only zileuton treatment significantly reduced the T/D‐induced histopathological injury. In this study, we demonstrated for the first time that zileuton had protective effects on testicular T/D injury. We have also found that zileuton is more effective than montelukast on histopathological injury.