Impact of maternal stress on metabolism and penile morphology in young offspring rats

Histol Histopathol. 2023 Dec 27:18698. doi: 10.14670/HH-18-698. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTExposure to prolonged stress in pregnancy and/or lactation can lead to the future development of diseases. We aimed to study the effects of maternal stress on the biometry, metabolism, and penile morphology of young Wistar rats. Animals were divided into two experimental groups: Control Group (C) - pups from control mothers, without any intervention (n=5); and Chronic Stress Group (S) - pups from mothers who suffered variable stress in the third week of pregnancy (14th to 21st day; n=5). Food intake and body mass of the pups (n=10, in the C group and n=9 in the S group) were checked; at euthanasia (three months old), fat deposits and penis were removed. At birth and weaning, S animals were lighter than C animals, [-33.72% (p=0.0422) and -17.07% (p=0.0018)], respectively. However, the final body mass and body mass delta showed no differences. Food intake and fat deposits also did not differ. However, the S group was hyperglycemic at 30 and 60 days of life [+20.59% (p=0.0042) and +14.56% (p=0.0079), respectively], despite the glycemia measured at 90 days showing no difference between groups. Penile areas and surface densities of the corpora cavernosa components were similar between groups. The results indicate that maternal stress is an important metabolic programmer, which generates low birth weight and accelerated recovery of body mass after birth (catch-up). However, in an early ana...

Source: Histology and Histopathology - January 15, 2024 Category: Cytology Authors: Carolinne Macedo Juliana Monnerat Bianca Lucchetti Gabriel Teixeira Juliana Mentzinger Helena Rocha Renata Medeiros Nat ália Rocha Diogo de Souza Francisco Sampaio Bianca Gregorio Source Type: research