Combined action of uranium and stress in the rat

• DOI: 10.1016/j.toxlet.2005.03.015
• Publication Date: 2005-05-18T12:01:08Z
• Authors: Victoria Linares; M. Luisa Albina; Montserrat Bellés; Emilio Mayayo; Domènec J. Sánchez; José L. Domingo
• Keywords: Restraint, Physical; Male; Behavior, Animal; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Reproduction; Body Weight; Brain; Organ Size; Spermatozoa; 01 natural sciences; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Testis; Avoidance Learning; Organometallic Compounds; Animals; Uranium; Female; Maze Learning; Stress, Psychological; 0105 earth and related environmental sciences

The effects of stress on the potential reproductive toxicity of long-term exposure to uranyl acetate dihydrate (UAD) were assessed in adult male rats. Six groups of animals were given UAD at 10, 20, and 40 mg/kg/day in the drinking water during 3 months. Animals in three of these groups were also subjected to restraint for 2 h/day during the same period. Control groups included restrained and unrestrained male rats not exposed to UAD. To evaluate the fertility, male rats were mated with untreated females for 2 weeks. Although body weight was not affected by uranium at any dose, there was a significant (not dose-related) decrease in the pregnancy rate. Moreover, spermatid number/testis was significantly decreased by uranium administration. Histopathological examination of the testes in rats killed after 3 months of treatment revealed few differences in the tubule and interstitial alterations (focal atrophy, binucleated cells) between control and uranium-exposed animals. The results of this investigation show that at the current UAD doses, restraint stress did not enhance the uranium-induced adverse effects on reproduction in male rats.