Histological study and immunohistochemical expression of StAR protein in the suprarenal cortex of adult male rats associated with sleep disturbance

Abstract

The present study was designed to investigate the effects of sleep disturbance on histological features and evaluates the expression of StAR protein in the cortex of the adrenal gland of adult male rats. The suprarenal glands are endocrine organs that are directly affected by sleep deprivation. Sleep disturbance is a stress factor affecting steroidogenesis since it is regulated by the hypothalamic-pituitary axis (HPA). Its hormones are cholesterol-derived, and they use the Acut regulating protein of steroidogenesis StAR protein that plays an essential critical role in mediating cholesterol transfer to the inner mitochondrial membrane and the cholesterol side chain cleavage enzyme system. This research aims to investigate the effects of sleep disturbance (sleep disruption and deprivation) on the histological features and changes in StAR expression in the cortex of the adrenal glands of rats. Comparing experimental groups to controls, histological alterations such as cellular hypertrophy and vascular dilatation in the cortical zones of the adrenal cortex were found mainly in the Zona fasculata Zf. Immunohistochemistry was used to identify significant changes in the level of StAR, which showed a higher value in the sleep interruption group compared to the control and sleep deprivation groups at p-value ≤ 0.001. This indicates that sleep interruption has a more significant impact on steroidogenesis than sleep deprivation, which increases the level of StAR in the suprarenal gland. Keywords: suprarenal gland; sleep disturbance; StAR protein; steroidogenesis; circadian rhythms.