P-29: The Effects of Chronic Multiple Sequential Stress on Rat Epididim

Background: The increase of stress following the technological improvements appears to be an important factor that causes organs disorders like genital system. Therefore the present study was conducted to investigate the effects of chronic multiple sequential stress on rat epididim. Materials and Methods: 18 Wistar rats were divided randomly into two equal groups. In animals under stress, the mice were exposed to different multiple sequential stress as forced swimming, restraint, water deprivation, isolation and food deprivation for 10 days while the animals in control group were kept in their cages without any disorders. After weighing the animals and anesthesing with xylazine-Ketamine, the epididm of animals were removed and weighed. After fixation with formaldehyde (10%), testis samples were prepared for light microscopic study. The diameter of epididim tube, thickness of the epididm epithelium determined using Image Tool software in the studied groups. Finally the data were compared statistically. Results: The present study showed that the mean diameter of epididm tube and in stress group have significantly decreased compared to control group (p<0.001). Moreover, the mean thickness of the epididim epithelium in stress group have significantly decreased compared to control group (p<0.003). Conclusion: Our study showed that chronic multiple sequential stress can have negative effects by reducing the diameter of epididm tube and thickness of the epididim epithelium in rat epididim but more studies are needed to confirm these results.