Effects of adipose tissue derived stem cells on testicular injury in rats with experimental undescended testis.

Undescended testes is a common medical condition that is often treated late because it is generally not recognized early. In delayed cases, the testes can be damaged by higher temperatures, which may lead to infertility and cancer. Various studies have shown that stem cells can be protective in testicular damage, and regardless of their intended use, they have generally shown a favorable safety profile in preclinical studies. Based on this data, the investigation focused on adipose-derived stem cell (ADSC) treatment to evaluate its protective effects on experimental undescended testis (EUT) damage. Forty male Wistar rats (16–19 days old) were divided into two experimental durations (3 days and 7 days, n = 20 for each duration). There were four groups in each period (n = 5/group): Control, EUT, EUT + medium (M), and EUT + ADSC. In EUT groups, the right testis was surgically affixed intra-abdominally. ADSC-treated rats were administered 1 × 106 ADSCs in 300 µL of medium injected into the rete testis. Histopathological assessment was conducted using hematoxylin–eosin staining and Johnsen’s grading system. We used eNOS/iNOS immunohistochemistry and the TUNEL test to check for oxidative stress and apoptosis, and VASA immunostaining to check for germ cells. The one-way ANOVA test was used for statistical analysis. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered significant. In EUT applied testicles, edema and interstitial space between seminiferous tubules, degeneration within seminiferous tubules, vacuolization, pyknotic cells, and atrophic structures were observed. There were notable histopathologic differences observed with medium and low amounts of ADSC. NOS immunohistochemistry was utilized to assess oxidative damage, while TUNEL was employed to detect apoptotic cell death. VASA stainings utilized as markers for spermatogonial cells exhibited high positivity in early term, peaking in the control group and subsequently decreasing, particularly notable in the EUT group. ADSC therapy reduces histopathological damage, oxidative stress, and apoptosis in the EUT model, indicating its potential for future clinical application in infertility treatment.