Stress suppresses testicular and body weight in young Syrian hamsters under short photoperiod.
Two experiments were performed to investigate the effect of stress on testicular weight and body mass in young adult male Syrian hamsters under long or short photoperiods. We hypothesized that water or food deprivation causes stress and that the amount of stress depends on unpredictable timing of deprivation. More specifically, water or food deprivation on unpredictable days was considered more stressful for animals than regular deprivation on fixed days even if the total lengths of deprivation were the same for the two treatments. Experiment 1 showed that water deprivation on unpredictable days caused more suppressive effects on testicular weight and body mass than that on fixed days under short photoperiod. Experiment 2 indicated that unpredictable food deprivation on a quarter or half of the days throughout the 12-week testing period under short photoperiod also induced more detrimental effects on testes and body growth than predictable deprivation once every 4 days or every other day. These findings clearly suggested that the stress associated with water or food caused more suppressive effects on testicular weight and body mass than the shortage of water or food per se.
Department of Psychology, Shiga University, Japan.
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N
Ibuka
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S
Ichikawa
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H
Nishioka
D000818:Animals; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology*; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology*; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000502:physiology*; D006224:Cricetinae; D008027:Light; D008297:Male; D008647:Mesocricetus; D009929:Organ Size / Q000502:physiology; D012741:Sexual Maturation / Q000502:physiology*; D013737:Testis / Q000502:physiology*; D014868:Water Deprivation / Q000502:physiology