OBJECTIVETo investigate the protective effect of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs)-derived exosomesagainst testicular ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) in rats.

METHODSRat BMSCs were isolated, cultured and identified in theprimary culture. The exosomes were extracted from the BMSCs and characterized using nanoparticle tracking analysis, transmission electron microscopy, and Western blotting. Twenty-four healthy male SD rats were randomly divided into shamoperation group, testicular IRI with saline treatment group and IRI with exosome treatment group. The contralateral testes ofthe rats were collected for pathological observation, aseessment of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and malondialdehyde (MDA), and detection of HMGB1, caspases-3 and cleaved caspase-3 expressions using Western blotting.

RESULTSWe successfullyobtained exosomes from rat BMSCs. Testicular IRI significantly impaired testicular spermatogenesis, which was markedlyimproved by treatment with the exosomes ( < 0.05). Testicular IRI also caused significant increase in the protein expression ofHMGB1, caspase-3 and cleaved caspase-3 in the testicular tissue, and treatment with the exosomes obviously amelioratedthese changes ( < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSBMSCs-derived exosomes protects against testicular IRI due to the anti-oxidant, antiinflammatory and anti-apoptosis activities of the exosomes.