Objective: Testicular torsion is a common syndrome that could lead to infertility. This study was designed to evaluate the histopathological effects of single dose of statins which have different pharmacological properties, in testicular ischemia/ reperfusion (IR) injury model that resembles testicular torsion/detorsion.

Material and Methods: Rats were anesthetized with intraperitoneal (i.p.) thiopental sodium (50 mg/kg) before the operation. Left testicular artery and vein of rats were occluded for 1 hour and the organ was allowed to reperfuse 24 hour before the orchiectomy for histologic examination. Simvastatin (5 mg/kg, i.p.), pravastatin (5 mg/kg, i.p.), atorvastatin (10 mg/kg, i.p.) or vehicle (10 % dimethylsulfoxide) was administrated before reperfusion.

Results: IR caused a significant histopathologic damage of left testis. The mean Johnsen score in IR group was lower than sham group (p=0.001). The score of testes treated with simvastatin was lower than sham (p=0.001) but higher than IR group (p=0.004). Atorvastatin and pravastatin treatments did not alter the mean Johnsen score.

Conclusion: The present study showed that simvastatin treatment reduced IR-induced histopathologic injury, while atorvastatin and pravastatin did not alter. In conclusion, we thought that these different effects of statins may be dependent on their different chemical and pharmacological properties.