Effects of L-Carnitine on follicular reserve and Caspase-3 in transplanted mouse ovarian tissue

Introdution: One of the major challengs in ovarian tissue transplantation is overcomeing ischemia/ reperfusion injuries. During ischemia–reperfusion processes, oxygen free radicals constitute the most important component that induces damage of the grafted tissues. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of L-Carnitine (LC) as an antioxidant on heterotopic transplantation of mouse ovarian tissue. Methods: In this laboratory experimental study, 5- week old female NMRI mice were divided into four groups: control, transplanted without administration (autograft), sham group (autograft+ saline) and LC group (autograft+ L- carnitine). Left ovarian tissues were transplanted into the Gluteal muscle for 3 weeks. After this time, ovarian tissues from all groups were removed and fixed in formalin for histological studies. Furthermore, rate of Caspase- 3 was assessed by immunohistochemistry test. Lipid peroxidation was assessed by measuring  malondialdehyde (MDA). One-way ANOVA and Tudey test was used to analyze the data using the spss 16 software. Significance was defined as P≤0.0. Results: The study results indicated that total follicular count in transplantedwithout administration and sham groups was significantly lower than the control group (p<0.05), but there was no significant difference between the control and LC groups. In addition, the rate of caspase-3 was decreased in the LC group, but no significant difference existed between all groups (p<0.05). A significant reduction in the concentration of MDA was observed in the LC group than that in the other transplanted groups (p<0.05). Conclusion: In this study, LC could improve the ovarian reserve to some extent, but its effect was not significant.