Resveratrol Ameliorates Testicular Histopathology of Mice Exposed to Restraint Stress.

Sheeraz Mustafa,Wael Ennab,Quanwei Wei,Farman Siyal,Fangxiong Shi,Korejo Nazar,Ngekure Kavita,Zengpeng Lv,Saif Rodeni

doi:10.3390/ani9100743

Abstract

Simple SummaryThe search for effective medicines is challenging. Resveratrol is a phytoalexin, and its function remains unelucidated. Therefore, we undertook the present study to investigate reproductive disturbances due to restraint stress in mice and whether resveratrol plays an anti-stress role. Our results confirmed that resveratrol plays a potential role in the reduction of stress in mice. We evaluated immobilization stress and resveratrol supplementation in immature male mice at 30 days of age for 15 consecutive days. Fifty Swiss mice were divided into five groups (10 mice each): Controls, restraint stress (RS), restraint stress + vehicle (RS + V), RS + 2 mg/kg, and RS + 20 mg/kg. We determined results on the basis of hematoxylin and eosin (H&E), “Periodic acid-Schiff” staining, and TUNEL assay. The results indicated that immobilization stress significantly decreased body weight, testis weight, and water/food intake compared to the control; while resveratrol ameliorated these effects. The quantitative histologic evaluation of the seminiferous tubule diameter, luminal diameter, area of seminiferous tubules, area of tubule lumen, epithelial height, Leydig cell number, and the width of the tunica albuginea were similarly decreased after exposure to RS. These parameters recovered back to normal in the RS + 2 mg/kg group. The development of spermatogenesis was significantly delayed in the RS, RS + V, and RS + 20 mg groups based upon our evaluation score system. However, we observed no significant differences in the RS + 2 mg group compared with the control group. The number of TUNEL-positive cells also significantly decreased in the RS + 2 mg/kg group. In conclusion, we found that the administration of 2 mg/kg was an effective dose against immobilization stress in mice.

Highlights

The process of unconscious and physiologic deterioration is one of the most common mental disorders and is characterized by affective distress [1]
Results showed that restraint stress was associated with changes in body and testicular weights and that resveratrol could effectively reverse these deficiencies in organ weights after immobilization stress
The number of transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL)-positive cells increased significantly in a stressed group, while the apoptotic cells of the lower dose (2 mg/kg) in our study were fewer in number. This was the first study to use score in restraint stress with lower and higher doses of resveratrol, and we found that the percentage of the calculated scores were 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, and 0 in multiple cross-sections of seminiferous tubules, the groups of RS, RS + V, and RS + 20 mg were significantly not higher in score

Summary

Introduction

The process of unconscious and physiologic deterioration is one of the most common mental disorders and is characterized by affective distress [1]. 20% of the human population suffers from distress [2]. The relation between restraint (immobilization) stress (RS) and sexual behavior in male rats has been studied before [3]. Immobilization stress is a combination of both physical and mental stress, where movement is constrained and the individual is separated from all groups in a confined area [4]. Researchers suggested that separation inhibits the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular axis; and that the male reproductive capacity is restrained by restraint stress [5].

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