Journal
JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENTAL ORIGINS OF HEALTH AND DISEASE
Volume 12, Issue 4, Pages 595-602Publisher
CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1017/S2040174420000975
Keywords
Circadian cycle; gestation; development; male reproductive system; adulthood
Categories
Funding
- CAPES - PROEX (Coordinating Body for the Improvement of Postgraduate Studies in Higher Education, Brazil)
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Exposure of pregnant rats to constant light during gestation was found to impair the reproductive system of male offspring in adulthood, leading to decreased testosterone levels, epididymal weight, sperm count, and histopathological damage in the testes.
Alterations in the circadian cycle are known to cause physiological disorders in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal and the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axes in adult individuals. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate whether exposure of pregnant rats to constant light can alter the reproductive system development of male offspring. The dams were divided into two groups: a light-dark group (LD), in which pregnant rats were exposed to an LD photoperiod (12 h/12 h) and a light-light (LL) group, in which pregnant rats were exposed to a photoperiod of constant light during the gestation period. After birth, offspring from both groups remained in the normal LD photoperiod (12 h/12 h) until adulthood. One male of each litter was selected and, at adulthood (postnatal day (PND) 90), the trunk blood was collected to measure plasma testosterone levels, testes and epididymis for sperm count, oxidative stress and histopathological analyses, and the spermatozoa from the vas deferens to perform the morphological and motility analyses. Results showed that a photoperiod of constant light caused a decrease in testosterone levels, epididymal weight and sperm count in the epididymis, seminiferous tubule diameter, Sertoli cell number, and normal spermatozoa number. Histopathological damage was also observed in the testes, and stereological alterations, in the LL group. In conclusion, exposure to constant light during the gestational period impairs the reproductive system of male offspring in adulthood.
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