Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 10, 2025
Assessment of Stress Effects on Cognitive Flexibility using an Operant Strategy Shifting Paradigm
Published on: May 4, 2020
Effects of Chronic Stress and Comfort Food in Testicular Morphology in Adult Wistar Rats
Carina F Barnabé1, Roger G Marchon1, Maria V C Pinto1
1Unidade de Pesquisa Urogenital - Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro - UERJ, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
Purpose:
To investigate the effect of chronic stress on testicular morphology in adult Wistar rats, as well as the impact of comfort food consumption on these parameters.
Material And Methods:
32 Wistar rats (10 weeks old) were divided into four groups: control (C), stressed (S), control + comfort food (C+CF), and stressed + comfort food (S+CF). Chronic stress was induced by the restraint method during 8 weeks in groups S and S+CF, while groups C and C+CF were maintained under normal conditions. Groups C and S received a standard rat chow diet, while groups C+CF and S+CF received both the standard chow and comfort food (Froot Loops®). After 8 weeks of experiment, all animals were euthanized and the testes were collected for histomorphometric, immunohistochemical and gene expression analysis.
Results:
Comfort food was preferred over standard chow in groups C+CF and S+CF, but this preference was more preeminent in stressed animals (S+CF). The consumption of comfort food resulted in testicular weight reduction. The seminipherous epithelium was reduced in group S in comparison to controls. While comfort food also reduced the epithelium in C+CF in comparison to controls, for group S+CF the comfort food ameliorated the stress-induced damage. The cell proliferation rate and the relative expression of StAR and BLC2 genes were similar between the groups.
Conclusion:
Both chronic stress and comfort food consumption resulted in morphological alterations of the testes but the consumption of comfort foods during chronic stress partially prevented the stress-induced detrimental effects on testes.
