Positive Roles of Resveratrol in Early Development of Testicular Germ Cells against Maternal Restraint Stress in Mice.

Sheeraz Mustafa,Wael Ennab,Quanwei Wei,Fangxiong Shi,Zhicheng Shi,Zengpeng Lv,Korejo Nazar

doi:10.3390/ani10010122

Abstract

Simple SummaryMaternal stress during pregnancy affected the early programming of the brain in the fetus with changes in neuroendocrine regulation, and offspring behavior was proven in the literature. In addition, resveratrol (RES) was reported to play positive roles against stress. However, how maternal stress affects testicular development and whether RES has potential protecting roles is unknown.Our present study was designed to evaluate the effects of resveratrol (RES) in Swiss mice by exposing them to prenatal stress. Twenty-four Swiss mice were divided into four groups: control (C), maternal restraint stress (MRS), maternal restraint stress + resveratrol (MRS + RES) 2 mg, and maternal restraint stress + resveratrol (MRS + RES) 20 mg. Dams were exposed to stress by restraint in plastic tubes for four hours a day from 12–18 days of gestation. The results showed that male pups of MRS were significantly decreased in the testis weight, anogenital distance, area of seminiferous tubules, diameter of seminiferous tubules, area of the lumen, diameter of the lumen, and epithelial height of seminiferous tubules. However, the anomalies of the reproductive tract produced under restraint stress were neutralized by the use of RES 2 mg/kg. A significant difference was observed between terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL)- positive germ cells in MRS and MRS + RES 20 mg/kg groups, while it was non-significant between MRS + RES 2 mg/kg and C groups. Apart from these effects, blood glucose levels were increased in MRS and MRS + RES 20 mg/kg groups, while experimental animals of the MRS + RES 2 mg/kg group significantly recovered. These results suggested that a lower dose of RES could cure the adverse effects of prenatal stress in early age male progeny. Thus, our study suggests, for the first time, practical values for a lower dose of RES 2 mg/kg as a safe and effective agent in the first week age of prenatally stressed mice.

Highlights

The life of a developing body in the womb is extremely weak against environmental challenges [1,2].Such harmful effects to a newborn can be from the mother’s malnutrition, exogenous glucocorticoids, and maternal stress [3]
In our findings during quantitative histological measurements (Figure 1i,ii), area of seminiferous tubules was significantly decreased in the groups of maternal restraint stress (MRS) and MRS + 20 mg/kg in comparison with the control group, while no statistical difference was seen in the MRS + 2 mg/kg group
The diameter of seminiferous tubules in MRS and MRS + 20 was significantly decreased, while this was non-significant in MRS + 2 mg/kg compared with the control (Figure 1A,B)

Summary

Introduction

The life of a developing body in the womb is extremely weak against environmental challenges [1,2] Such harmful effects to a newborn can be from the mother’s malnutrition, exogenous glucocorticoids, and maternal stress [3]. The main function of the testis is the production of sperm and androgens, which relies on the normal development of both testicular somatic cells and germ cells [10] This process takes place in the rat between 13.5 and 14.5 post-conception days (pcd) and in the mouse between 11.5 and 12.5 pcd. The development of testosterone is detected in the mouse from 12.5 pcd [12] It is still uncertain whether maternal restraint stress (MRS) will cause oxidative stress in testis tissues of neonatal mice. There are limited data available about the role of MRS and resulting hyperglycemia in modified etiology and diabetes in neonates

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