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ARTICLE
Effects of prenatal stress on male offspring sexual maturity
NANCY RODRÍGUEZ, NORA MAYER, HÉCTOR F. GAUNA
Orientación Fisiología Animal. Departamento de Biología Molecular. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físico-Químicas y Naturales. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Córdoba. Argentina.
Address correspondence to: Dra. Nancy Rodríguez. Orientación Fisiología Animal, Departamento de Biología Molecular, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físico-Químicas y Naturales. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Ruta 8, Km 601. (5800) Río Cuarto, Córdoba, ARGENTINA. E-mail: nmarioli@exa.unrc.edu.ar
BIOCELL 2007, 31(1), 67-74. https://doi.org/10.32604/biocell.2007.31.067
Abstract
Prenatal stimulations have been shown to have long-term effects on at reproductive activity. We
evaluated the influence of the prenatal stress on the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonad (HPG) axis in male offsprings from mothers with high number of offsprings per litter (HNL) and low number of offsprings per litter
(LNL) after hypothesizing that the number of offsprings per litter may modify the effect of the prenatal stress on
the HPG of adult offsprings. Pregnant Wistar rats were used for this study. Immobilization (IMO) stress was
used, 30 min, 3 times per week, from the 5th to 21st day of pregnancy. The weight of adrenal and gonads, and the
corticosterone (COR), testosterone (TES) and luteinizing hormone (LH) plasmatic levels were analyzed in the
male offspring at 30, 45 and 70 days of age. The offspring males coming from LNL showed a decrease in testicle
weight and TES levels, without changes in the plasmatic LH levels. However, the offspring of HNL showed a
decrease of LH levels. It is possible to conclude that in LNL prenatal stress would produce alterations to gonadal
level, while in HNL the effect of stress would be evident at pituitary level.
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Cite This Article
RODRÍGUEZ,, N. (2007). Effects of prenatal stress on male offspring sexual maturity.
BIOCELL, 31(1), 67–74. https://doi.org/10.32604/biocell.2007.31.067
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