a Urogenital Research Unit Rio de Janeiro State University , Rio de Janeiro , Brazil.
b Department of Morphology , Fluminense Federal University , Niteroi , Brazil.
Stress. 2019 Mar;22(2):248-255. doi: 10.1080/10253890.2018.1553946. Epub 2019 Jan 2.
The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of chronic stress from the prepubertal to the adult stages or during adulthood on penile morphology in rats. The animals were immobilized in a cylinder for 2 h daily for a total of six weeks to simulate stress. Ten rats were exposed to stress stimulus beginning from the prepubertal age, while nine rats were exposed to stress stimulus only during adulthood. Animals were killed at 24 h after the last stress session for short-term evaluation (SP-S and SA-S), while other age-matched rats were sacrificed at 6 weeks after the last stress session for long-term evaluation (SP-L and SA-L). Age-matched animals were used as controls (CP-S, CA-S, CP-L and CA-L). After treatment, serum testosterone levels and areas of cavernosum structures were evaluated. We observed no changes in serum testosterone levels after stress treatment. Results revealed that the area of the corpus cavernosum without the tunica albuginea in animals in the SA-S group was 16% lower than that in the CA-S group. The smooth muscle was 31% lower in the SP-L group than in the SP-S group and 42% lower in the SA-S group than in the CA-S group. The elastic fiber system was 48% lower in the SP-L group than in the CP-L group and 59% lower in the SA-S group than in the CA-S group. Chronic stress promoted morphological changes in the rat penis and was significantly more pronounced when the stress occurred throughout the adulthood. Chronically applied single stress stimulus caused greater damage to the penis when induced directly during adulthood than when introduced before puberty to adulthood and could be associated with erectile dysfunction.
本研究旨在评估从青春期前到成年期或成年期持续的慢性应激对大鼠阴茎形态的影响。动物每天被固定在一个圆筒中 2 小时，共 6 周以模拟应激。10 只大鼠从青春期前开始暴露于应激刺激，而 9 只大鼠仅在成年期暴露于应激刺激。在最后一次应激后 24 小时处死动物进行短期评估（SP-S 和 SA-S），而其他年龄匹配的大鼠在最后一次应激后 6 周处死进行长期评估（SP-L 和 SA-L）。年龄匹配的动物作为对照（CP-S、CA-S、CP-L 和 CA-L）。治疗后，评估血清睾酮水平和海绵体结构面积。我们观察到应激处理后血清睾酮水平没有变化。结果表明，SA-S 组动物无白膜的海绵体组织面积比 CA-S 组低 16%。SP-L 组的平滑肌比 SP-S 组低 31%，比 CA-S 组低 42%。弹性纤维系统在 SP-L 组比 CP-L 组低 48%，在 SA-S 组比 CA-S 组低 59%。慢性应激促进了大鼠阴茎的形态变化，当应激发生在整个成年期时，这种变化更为明显。慢性施加的单一应激刺激在直接发生在成年期时对阴茎的损伤比在青春期前到成年期期间引入时更大，可能与勃起功能障碍有关。
