title: Deleterious effects of prepubertal corticosterone treatment on rat prostate.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the structural and functional changes induced by corticosterone (CORT) in the ventral prostrate (VP) of rats in order to study chronic stress effects in the prepubertal phase.
  
  
  METHODS
  Wistar rats received daily saline or CORT injections during the pubertal period from the 5th to 25th day of postnatal life. The animals were distributed into four groups: 1 - Control (n=5); 2 - Control 99mTc-P (n=5); 3 - Treated with CORT (n=14); 4 - Treated with CORT and 99mTc-P (n=10). All rats were sacrificed at two months of age. Technical tissue uptakes of 99mTc-P were used to evaluate the functional and stereological methods for morphological analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Acini distribution in the group treated with CORT differed significantly (p<0.0001) from the control. The control group's epithelial average height (10.01±0.24 microns) was statistically significant (p<0.0001) from rats treated with CORT (19.27±0.73microns). The collagen distribution was lower in the treated group (2.79%) when compared to control (3.97%). The radioactivity percentage in the groups marked with 99mTc-P (%Ati/g) did not demonstrate a statistically significant difference (p=0.285897).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Chronic administration of corticosterone in prepubertal rats causes changes in their acinar structure and their ventral prostate stroma, indicating possible deleterious effects of this hormone.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Center for Health Sciences, Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brazil.
authors.forename: Flávia Cristina Morone
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Pinto
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Mathematics, State University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
authors.forename: Dílson
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.affiliation: UERJ, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
authors.forename: Pamella Campos
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
authors.forename: Luiza Morone
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, UNIRIO, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
authors.forename: Arlene Regina
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Morone
authors.affiliation: UERJ, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
authors.forename: Waldemar Silva
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.affiliation: UERJ, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
authors.forename: Célia Martins
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Cortez
authors.affiliation: UERJ, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
authors.forename: Francisco José Barcellos
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Sampaio
mesh_terms: D061354:Acinar Cells / Q000187:drug effects; D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents / Q000009:adverse effects*; D003094:Collagen / Q000032:analysis; D003345:Corticosterone / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D009929:Organ Size / Q000187:drug effects; D011467:Prostate / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000187:drug effects*; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D046468:Sexual Development; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000378:metabolism*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents; D003094:Collagen; D003345:Corticosterone