scholarly journals Sex-specific prenatal stress effects on the rat reproductive axis and adrenal gland structure

Reproduction ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 151 (6) ◽  
pp. 709-717 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheryl J Ashworth ◽  
Susan O George ◽  
Charis O Hogg ◽  
Yu-Ting Lai ◽  
Paula J Brunton
Keyword(s):  
Adrenal Gland ◽  
Social Stress ◽  
Late Pregnancy ◽  
Receptor Expression ◽  
Plasma Testosterone ◽  
Seminiferous Tubules ◽  
Corpora Lutea ◽  
Fsh Receptor ◽  
Pregnant Rats ◽  
Reproductive Axis

Abstract Social stress during pregnancy has profound effects on offspring physiology. This study examined whether an ethologically relevant social stress during late pregnancy in rats alters the reproductive axis and adrenal gland structure in post-pubertal male and female offspring. Prenatally stressed (PNS) pregnant rats (n=9) were exposed to an unfamiliar lactating rat for 10 min/day from day 16 to 20 of pregnancy inclusive, whereas control pregnant rats (n=9) remained in their home cages. Gonads, adrenal glands and blood samples were obtained from one female and one male from each litter at 11 to 12-weeks of age. Anogenital distance was measured. There was no treatment effect on body, adrenal or gonad weight at 11–12 weeks. PNS did not affect the number of primordial, secondary or tertiary ovarian follicles, numbers of corpora lutea or ovarian FSH receptor expression. There was an indication that PNS females had more primary follicles and greater ovarian aromatase expression compared with control females (both P=0.09). PNS males had longer anogenital distances (0.01±0.0 cm/g vs 0.008±0.00 cm/g; P=0.007) and higher plasma FSH concentrations (0.05 ng/mL vs 0.006 ng/mL; s.e.d.=0.023; P=0.043) compared with control males. There were no treatment effects on the number of Sertoli cells or seminiferous tubules, seminiferous tubule area, plasma testosterone concentration or testis expression of aromatase, FSH receptor or androgen receptor. PNS did not affect adrenal size. These data suggest that the developing male reproductive axis is more sensitive to maternal stress and that PNS may enhance aspects of male reproductive development.

scholarly journals Assessment of Cytotoxicity, Fetotoxicity, and Teratogenicity ofPlathymenia reticulataBenth Barks Aqueous Extract

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lia de Barros Leite Albuquerque ◽  
Cháriston André Dal Belo ◽  
Marcio Galdino dos Santos ◽  
Patricia Santos Lopes ◽  
Marli Gerenutti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Aqueous Extract ◽  
Reproductive Toxicity ◽  
Late Pregnancy ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Corpora Lutea ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Pregnant Rats ◽  
Skeletal Analysis ◽  
Ld50 Test

Scientific assessment of harmful interactions of chemicals over the entire reproductive cycle are divided into three segments based on the period: from premating and mating to implantation (I), from implantation to major organogenesis (II), and late pregnancy and postnatal development (III). We combined the segments I and II to assessPlathymenia reticulataaqueous extract safety. In order to investigate reproductive toxicity (segment I), pregnant rats received orally 0.5 or 1.0 g/kg of extract, daily, during 18 days. These concentrations were determined by a preliminaryin vitroLD50 test in CHO-k1 cells. A control group received deionized water. The offspring was removed at the 19th day, by caesarean, and a teratology study (segment II) was carried out. The corpora lutea, implants, resorptions, live, and dead fetuses were then counted. Placenta and fetuses were weighted. External and visceral morphology were provided by the fixation of fetuses in Bouin, whereas skeletal analysis was carried out on the diaphanizated ones. The increase in the weights of placenta and fetuses was the only abnormality observed. Since there was no sign of alteration on reproduction parameters at our experimental conditions, we conclude thatP. reticulataaqueous extract is safe at 0.5 to 1.0 g/kg and is not considered teratogenic.

scholarly journals Gpr54−/− mice show more pronounced defects in spermatogenesis than Kiss1−/− mice and improved spermatogenesis with age when exposed to dietary phytoestrogens

Reproduction ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 141 (3) ◽  
pp. 357-366 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hua Mei ◽  
Cara Walters ◽  
Richard Carter ◽  
William H Colledge
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Signaling Pathway ◽  
Mutant Mice ◽  
Plasma Testosterone ◽  
Seminiferous Tubules ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Reproductive Axis ◽  
Genetic And Environmental Factors ◽  
Related Increase

Mice with mutations in the kisspeptin signaling pathway (Kiss1−/− or Gpr54−/−) have low gonadotrophic hormone levels, small testes, and impaired spermatogenesis. Between 2 and 7 months of age, however, the testes of the mutant mice increase in weight and in Gpr54−/− mice, the number of seminiferous tubules containing spermatids/spermatozoa increases from 17 to 78%. In contrast, the Kiss1−/− mice have a less severe defect in spermatogenesis and larger testes than Gpr54−/− mice at both 2 and 7 months of age. The reason for the improved spermatogenesis was investigated. Plasma testosterone and FSH levels did not increase with age in the mutant mice and remained much lower than in wild-type (WT) mice. In contrast, intratesticular testosterone levels were similar between mutant and WT mice. These data indicate that age-related spermatogenesis can be completed under conditions of low plasma testosterone and FSH and that intratesticular testosterone may contribute to this process. In addition, however, when the Gpr54−/− mice were fed a phytoestrogen-free diet, they showed no age-related increase in testes weight or improved spermatogenesis. Thus, both genetic and environmental factors are involved in the improved spermatogenesis in the mutant mice as they age although the mice still remain infertile. These data show that the possible impact of dietary phytoestrogens should be taken into account when studying the phenotype of mutant mice with defects in the reproductive axis.

scholarly journals Reduced Hypothalamic Vasopressin Secretion Underlies Attenuated Adrenocorticotropin Stress Responses in Pregnant Rats

Endocrinology ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 146 (3) ◽  
pp. 1626-1637 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuaike Ma ◽  
Michael J. Shipston ◽  
David Morilak ◽  
John A. Russell
Keyword(s):  
Mrna Expression ◽  
Anterior Pituitary ◽  
Late Pregnancy ◽  
Secretory Response ◽  
Receptor Expression ◽  
Pituitary Cells ◽  
Pregnant Rats ◽  
V1b Receptor ◽  
Vasopressin Secretion ◽  
In Pregnancy

We sought to explain decreased ACTH secretory responses to stress in pregnant rats by investigating hypothalamic CRH and vasopressin secretion and actions on anterior pituitary corticotrophs. In late pregnancy median eminence, CRH content was reduced (by 12%). Anterior pituitary proopiomelanocortin mRNA expression, measured by in situ hybridization but not radioimmunoassayed ACTH content, was also reduced (by 45% on d 21); CRH receptor (CRHR)1 mRNA expression was unaltered in pregnancy, but V1b receptor mRNA expression was reduced (by 19%). ACTH secretory responses, measured in jugular blood, to CRH (200 ng/kg iv) or vasopressin (1.7 μg/kg, iv) were reduced on d 21 vs. virgins (49% and 44%), but the response to combined CRH and vasopressin injection was intact. Either antalarmin (CRHR1 antagonist; 20 mg/kg ip) or dP(Tyr(Me)2),Arg-NH29)AVP (V1a/b antagonist; 10 μg/kg, iv) pretreatment reduced the ACTH secretory response to forced swimming (90 sec) in virgin rats (by 57% and 40%), but only antalarmin was effective in pregnant rats (53% decrease). In vitro, measuring ACTH secretion from acutely dispersed anterior pituitary cells showed increased corticotroph sensitivity in pregnancy to CRH and to CRH augmentation by vasopressin, attributable to increased intracellular cAMP action. Hence, in late pregnancy, reduced anterior pituitary CRHR1 or V1b receptor expression did not impair corticotroph responses to CRH or vasopressin. Rather, diminished secretagogue secretion in vivo accounts for reduced action of stress levels of exogenous CRH or vasopressin alone; the late pregnancy attenuated ACTH secretory response to swim stress is deduced to be due to reduced vasopressin release by parvocellular paraventricular nuclei neurones.

scholarly journals The influence of maternal androgen excess on the male reproductive axis

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Holland ◽  
Melanie Prescott ◽  
Michael Pankhurst ◽  
Rebecca E. Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Polycystic Ovary ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Female Offspring ◽  
Confocal Imaging ◽  
Receptor Expression ◽  
Late Gestation ◽  
Plasma Testosterone ◽  
Androgen Excess ◽  
Reproductive Axis ◽  
Pulse Characteristics

AbstractPrenatal androgen excess is suspected to contribute to the development of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in women. Evidence from preclinical female animal models links maternal androgen excess with the development of PCOS-like features and associated alterations in the neuronal network regulating the reproductive axis. There is some evidence suggesting that maternal androgen excess leads to similar reproductive axis disruptions in men, despite the critical role that androgens play in normal sexual differentiation. Here, the specific impact of maternal androgen excess on the male hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis was investigated using a prenatal androgenization protocol in mice shown to model PCOS-like features in females. Reproductive phenotyping of prenatally androgenised male (PNAM) mice revealed no discernible impact of maternal androgen excess at any level of the reproductive axis. Luteinising hormone pulse characteristics, daily sperm production, plasma testosterone and anti-Müllerian hormone levels were not different in the male offspring of dams administered dihydrotestosterone (DHT) during late gestation compared to controls. Androgen receptor expression was quantified through the hypothalamus and identified as unchanged. Confocal imaging of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) neurons revealed that in contrast with prenatally androgenised female mice, PNAM mice exhibited no differences in the density of putative GABAergic innervation compared to controls. These data indicate that a maternal androgen environment capable of inducing reproductive dysfunction in female offspring has no evident impact on the reproductive axis of male littermates in adulthood.

Changes in Testicular Biometry, Steroid Hormones and Receptor Expression in the Peripubertal Period of Indigenous Tenyi-vo Male Pigs of North-eastern Himalayan Region in India

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manas Kumar Patra ◽  
Yhuntilo Kent ◽  
Ebibeni Ngullie ◽  
Lily Ngullie ◽  
Debojyoti Borkotoky ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Age Groups ◽  
Fold Change ◽  
Receptor Expression ◽  
Plasma Testosterone ◽  
Seminiferous Tubules ◽  
Testicular Weight ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Relative Fold Change ◽  
Testicular Histology ◽  
Eastern Himalayan Region

Abstract Present study was conducted to characterize the testicular changes in the peripubertal period in Tenyi-vo, a miniature size pig of North-eastern Himalayan (NEH) region of India. A total of twenty-four male pigs were randomly selected and categorised for castration at different age groups, G1 (Days 30-45), G2 (Days 60-65), G3 (Days 80-100) and G4 (Days 150-160), n=6 each category. Paired testes and epididymis were used for the assessment of biometry, cauda epididymal spermiogram, testicular histology and relative expression of the androgen receptor (AR), estrogen receptors (ERα and ERβ), aromatase (CYP19A1), and insulin like growth factor-1β receptor (IGF-1R) in qPCR. Plasma testosterone (T), estradiol (E2), tri-iodothyronine (T3), thyroxine (T4), and cortisol concentrations were estimated on the day of castration in each group of male using commercial ELISA kits. In pigs of G2, a greater testicular weight, volume, epididymis weight was observed relative to G1. The presence of live spermatozoa at 1240.9±304.2×106/mLconcentration with 0.65% proximal droplets was recorded as early as day 60. The concentration of T increased steadily over the age of G1 to G4 and a significantly higher concentration was observed in G4 relative to the other categories. Among the transcripts analysed in the testis, the relative fold change of AR was 10.8 fold in G2, which was subsequently reduced in G3 and then down-regulated in G4. CYP19A1 was abundantly expressed in the testis and the fold change ranged from 41-54 fold, although it did not differ significantly from 60-150 days of age. Further, the presence of well-developed seminiferous tubules was evident in the Tenyi-vo male from day 60 onward with a body weight as low as 4.28 kg. The study concluded that the male of Tenyi-vo pig attained puberty at the earliest age of 60 days.

OESTRADIOL CONTENT OF OVARIAN VENOUS BLOOD AND OVARIAN TISSUE IN HYPOPHYSECTOMIZED RATS DURING LATE PREGNANCY

1972 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. B. WAYNFORTH ◽  
D. M. ROBERTSON
Keyword(s):  
Corpus Luteum ◽  
Post Partum ◽  
Ovarian Tissue ◽  
Venous Blood ◽  
Late Pregnancy ◽  
Corpora Lutea ◽  
Pregnant Rats ◽  
Hypophysectomized Rats ◽  
Competitive Protein Binding ◽  
Intact Rats

SUMMARY Oestradiol-17β in ovarian venous blood and ovarian tissue was assayed by a competitive protein-binding method. Oestradiol was found in similar amounts in the ovarian vein blood of pregnant rats hypophysectomized on Day 12 and killed on Days 16 and 21 and in pregnant rats sham-hypophysectomized on Day 12 and killed on Day 16. The pituitary therefore plays no part in oestrogen production after mid-pregnancy until some time between Day 16 and Day 21, when it gives rise to an increased ovarian venous blood oestradiol content just before parturition, in intact sham-hypophysectomized rats. It is suggested that this increase is associated with the advent of the post-partum ovulation. The corpus luteum and the extraluteal component of the ovary in hypophysectomized rats autopsied on Days 16 and 21 and in sham-hypophysectomized rats autopsied on Day 16, contain similar amounts of oestradiol within each group. The extraluteal component contains about five times more oestradiol than corpora lutea in sham-hypophysectomized intact rats autopsied on Day 21. The ovaries of these animals also show an increased amount of oestradiol over that of the ovaries in the other three groups. It is suggested that secretion of oestradiol after mid-pregnancy in rats involves concurrently both the corpus luteum and the extraluteal component of the ovary.

scholarly journals Pre-natal social stress and post-natal pain affect the developing pig reproductive axis

Reproduction ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 142 (6) ◽  
pp. 907-914 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheryl J Ashworth ◽  
Charis O Hogg ◽  
Cindy W F Hoeks ◽  
Ramona D Donald ◽  
W Colin Duncan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Weight ◽  
Social Stress ◽  
Leydig Cells ◽  
Animal Husbandry ◽  
Plasma Testosterone ◽  
Testis Weight ◽  
Lower Plasma ◽  
Steroidogenic Enzyme ◽  
Reproductive Axis ◽  
Pain Affect

This study assessed the effect of pre-natal social stress and post-natal pain on the reproductive development of young (approximately day 40) pigs. Male pigs carried by sows that were stressed by mixing with unfamiliar older sows for two 1-week periods during mid-pregnancy had lower plasma testosterone (0.54 vs 0.86 ng/ml, s.e.d.=0.11; P=0.014) and oestradiol (E2; 22.9 vs 38.7 pg/ml, s.e.d.=7.80; P=0.021) concentrations compared with males carried by unstressed control sows. Although there was no effect of pre-natal stress on female E2 concentrations, female pigs carried by stressed sows had fewer primordial ovarian follicles (log −4.32/μm2 vs −4.00/μm2, s.e.d.=0.136; P=0.027). Tail amputation on day 3 after birth reduced E2 concentrations in female (4.78 vs 6.84 pg/ml, s.e.d.=0.86; P=0.03) and in male (25.6 vs 34.9 pg/ml, s.e.d.=3.56; P=0.021) pigs and reduced both testis weight (0.09% of body weight vs 0.10% of body weight, s.e.d.=0.003; P=0.01) and the percentage of proliferating Leydig cells (1.97 vs 2.12, s.e.d.=0.114; P=0.036) compared with sham-amputated littermate controls. There was a significant (P=0.036) interaction between the effects of pre-natal stress and post-natal pain on testicular expression of the steroidogenic enzyme 17α-hydroxylase, such that amputation increased expression in pigs born to control sows, but reduced expression in animals born to stressed sows. This study shows that stressful procedures associated with routine animal husbandry can disrupt the developing reproductive axis.

scholarly journals Englitazone administration to late pregnant rats produces delayed body growth and insulin resistance in their fetuses and neonates

2005 ◽  
Vol 389 (3) ◽  
pp. 913-918 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julio Sevillano ◽  
Inmaculada C. López-Pérez ◽  
Emilio Herrera ◽  
María del Pilar Ramos ◽  
Carlos Bocos
Keyword(s):  
Body Mass ◽  
Control Cell ◽  
Late Pregnancy ◽  
Tissue Growth ◽  
Peroxisome Proliferator ◽  
Pregnant Rats ◽  
Peroxisome Proliferator Activated Receptor ◽  
Akt Phosphorylation ◽  
Insulin Resistant

The level of maternal circulating triacylglycerols during late pregnancy has been correlated with the mass of newborns. PPARγ (peroxisome-proliferator-activated receptor γ) ligands, such as TZDs (thiazolidinediones), have been shown to reduce triacylglycerolaemia and have also been implicated in the inhibition of tissue growth and the promotion of cell differentiation. Therefore TZDs might control cell proliferation during late fetal development and, by extension, body mass of pups. To investigate the response to EZ (englitazone), a TZD, on perinatal development, 0 or 50 mg of englitazone/kg of body mass was given as an oral dose to pregnant rats daily from day 16 of gestation until either day 20 for the study of their fetuses, or until day 21 of gestation for the study of neonates. EZ decreased maternal triacylglycerol levels at day 20 of gestation and neonatal mass, but not fetal mass. Fetuses and neonates from EZ-treated mothers exhibited high levels of insulin and were found to be hyperglycaemic. The apparent insulin-resistant state in neonates from EZ-treated pregnant rats was corroborated, since they showed higher plasma NEFA [non-esterified (‘free’) fatty acid] levels, ketonaemia and liver LPL (lipoprotein lipase) activity and lower plasma IGF-I (type 1 insulin-like growth factor) levels, in comparison with those from control mothers. Moreover, at the molecular level, an increase in Akt phosphorylation was found in the liver of neonates from EZ-treated mothers, which confirms that the insulin pathway was negatively affected. Thus the response of fetuses and neonates to maternal antidiabetic drug treatment is the opposite of what would be expected, and can be justified by the scarce amount of adipose tissue impeding a normal response to PPARγ ligands and by hyperinsulinaemia as being responsible for a major insulin-resistant condition.

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