ABSTRACT
The effects of acute restraint stress on sperm motility and reproductive endocrinology were investigated in adult rats. Sperm motility was determined by computer-assisted sperm analysis. Acute restraint stress reduced sperm motility starting after 30 min, and the sperm motility parameters, percentage of motile spermatozoa (%), straight-line velocity, curvilinear velocity, deviation of the sperm head from the mean trajectory and the maximum amplitude of lateral head displacement decreased. It also induced a significant elevation in plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone, prolactin, corticosterone and progesterone and decreased follicle-stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, testosterone and immunoreactive (ir-) inhibin. These results clearly demonstrated that the acute restraint stress rapidly suppressed sperm motility and increased the activity of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis, whereas it disturbed hypothalamus- pituitary-gonadal axis activity.
Subject(s)
Stress, Psychological/physiopathology , Adrenocorticotropic Hormone/blood , Animals , Corticosterone/blood , Follicle Stimulating Hormone/blood , Hypothalamus/metabolism , Hypothalamus/physiology , Inhibins/blood , Luteinizing Hormone/blood , Male , Pituitary-Adrenal System/physiology , Progesterone/blood , Prolactin/blood , Rats , Sperm Head/pathology , Sperm Motility , Testosterone/bloodABSTRACT
Pantothenic acid (PaA) is a water-soluble vitamin required to sustain various physiological functions in animals. The physiological roles of PaA on testicular function, in particular, testicular endocrinology and sperm mortility, were investigated in rats. Male rats at 3 weeks of age were fed a PaA-free diet or a 0.0016% PaA diet (control) for 7 weeks. Total body weight, as well as the weights of the liver, kidney, pituitary, testis, epididymis, seminal vesicle and prostate; sperm motility; and the plasma concentrations of luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), testosterone and corticosterone were measured in rats at 10 weeks of age. Body weight gain decreased from 5 weeks of age in rats fed the PaA-free diet compared with the control. The relative weights of the testes were significantly higher in the PaA-deficient group compared with the control group. Several parameters of sperm motility were significantly reduced in the PaA-deficient group compared with the control group. In addition, the plasma concentrations of testosterone and corticosterone were significantly lower in the PaA-deficient group compared with the control group, whereas the plasma concentrations of FSH and LH showed no change. These results clearly demonstrate that PaA is an essential factor in testicular endocrinology and sperm motility in male rats.