Corticosterone influences gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus) prostatic morphophysiology and alters its proliferation and apoptosis rates

Abstract

Glucocorticoids (GCs) are hormones that are widely used in medicine; but although side effects are generally recognised, little is known about the precise mechanisms that is implicated in many of these side effects. Furthermore, GCs are highly correlated with stress and behaviour disorders. This study evaluated the effects of the glucocorticoid corticosterone on the ventral prostate of the Mongolian gerbil. Male gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus) (n = 5) received intraperitoneal injections of saline or corticosterone in doses of 0.5 mg/kg/day and 1.5 mg/kg/day for 5 days; while some of the animals were killed immediately after the treatment, the others were killed 5 days after the treatment period. The data show that corticosterone influences the structure and functionality of this organ. This hormone has anti-proliferative and anti-apoptotic properties in the prostate. In addition, the frequencies of the androgen (AR), oestrogen (ERα, ERβ) and glucocorticoid (GR) receptors changed. The frequencies of AR, GR and ERβ decreased in the Ct1/5 group; in the groups with rest period, the frequencies of GR increased and ERβ decreased in the epithelium. Changes in the proliferative index, apoptotic index and receptor activity may have contributed to the emergence of prostatic morphological alterations, such as the presence of cellular debris and inflammatory cells. Different doses of corticosterone had variable effects on the prostate, with a higher dose showing subtler effects and a lower dose showing more striking effects. The corticosterone effects on nuclear receptors were reverted or attenuated after a rest period, which was not observed for proliferation and apoptosis. In summary, we have demonstrated that corticosterone might influence the prostatic morphophysiology and that these changes may be linked in some way to the altered receptor distribution.

Condyloma acuminata: An evaluation of the immune response at cellular and molecular levels

“…For quantifying FOXP3 and IFN-γ proteins, which presented diffuse cytoplasmic staining in the epithelium, three random photomicrograph fields of each TMA sample were captured using OLYMPUS OlyVIA 2.9 software (Olympus Corporation, Japan) at 40x magnification. Immunostaining was quantified by imaging analysis using Image-Pro Plus software (version 6, Bethesda MD, USA), with the M130 multipoint system proposed by Weibel, [ 26 ] as previously described by Antoniassi et al [ 27 ]. The epithelial and stromal regions of each tissue were evaluated, the expression of FOXP3 and IFN-γ was quantified, and the incidence of positive immunostaining was presented as a percentage.…”

Maternal supplementation with corn oil associated or not with di-n-butyl phthalate increases circulating estradiol levels of gerbil offspring and impairs sperm reserve

“…In our own laboratory, the gerbil has been chosen as a very useful rodent for evaluation of the prostate response, particularly because of the fact that the high frequency of the prostatic gland in the females, in comparison with other classical rodents, makes it possible to compare the prostatic response between the sexes. We therefore examined the response of the prostatic gland of the gerbil to different agents such as hormones, endocrine disruptors and dietary components [24][25][26][27][28]. However, the testicular response of the gerbil to phthalates is largely unknown.…”

Interferências da exposição in utero ao di-n-butil ftalato e do consumo excessivo de lipídios saturados para os parâmetros reprodutivos do gerbilo

“…O interesse nesse roedor tem resultado em crescente utilização do mesmo em investigações científicas. Nas últimas décadas, o gerbilo tem sido utilizado em inúmeros estudos desenvolvidos no Brasil Pinto et al, 2010a, b;Pinto-Fochi et al, 2016a, b;Antoniassi et al, 2017) e em outros países (Saltzman et al, 2008;Beu et al, 2009;Juana et al, 2010), os quais avaliam diferentes aspectos do aparelho genital masculino. Perez et al (2012) Vários aspectos da biologia reprodutiva do gerbilos são conhecidos.…”