Comparison of the protective effects of sildenafil, vardenafil and tadalafil treatments in ischemia-reperfusion injury in rat ovary

Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare the effects of sildenafil, vardenafil and tadalafil in treatment for ischemia/reperfusion injury which is created experimentally in rat ovaries. Material and methods: For this study, 30 female Wistar albino rats were used, and the rats were separated randomly into five groups consisting of six rats each: normal, torsion-detorsion, torsion-detorsion + sildenafil 1.4 mg/kg, torsion-detorsion + vardenafil 1.7 mg/kg and torsion-detorsion + tadalafil 5.0 mg/kg.The agents were given intraperitoneally 30 minutes before detorsion. An ovarian torsion procedure was implemented in all other groups for 3 hours with the exception of the normal group. Then, a detorsion procedure was implemented to the groups for 3 hours. Results:The sildenafil and vardenafil treatments showed protective effect by preventing significant increase in inflammation parameters. (p = 0.058, 0.138). The tadalafil treatment was only protective for cellular degeneration (p = 0.140). The vardenafil treatment was protective for edema (p = 0.238), vascular congestion (p = 0.111), inflammation (p = 0.138) and cellular degeneration (p = 0.532). Sildenafil, vardenafil and tadalafil inhibited the increase of atretic follicle. AMH levels were statistically different between torsion and detorsion and vardenafil group (p = 0.004,0.004), whereas tadalafil and sildenafil groups were similar to normal group (p = 0.108, 0.108). Conclusions: PDE inhibitors were found to be effective in reducing ovarian ischemia/reperfusion injury. Sildenafil and tadalafil seem to be more effective than the vardenafil in protecting the ovarian reserve.