Effects of Chronic Stress on Food Preference and Penile Morphology in Rats

• Published in: The FASEB journal 2022-05, Vol.36 (S1), p.n/a
• Main Authors: Gregorio, Bianca M., Marchon, Roger G., Sampaio, Francisco José B., Costa, Waldemar S., Ferreira Filho, José Aurelino D., Souza, Diogo B.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0892-6638; 1530-6860
• DOI: 10.1096/fasebj.2022.36.S1.R3115

Hypothesis Chronic stress is related to raised desires of comfort foods and these factors (stress and high energetic diets) may alter the penile morphology. Aim To evaluate the effects of chronic stress on the dietetic preference and to evaluate both factors (diet and stress) on the penile morphology of adult rats. Methods Thirty two adult Wistar rats were divided into four experimental groups: Control group (C), receiving standard rat chow, and under normal conditions; Control/Comfort Food group (CF), receiving standard chow and comfort food (Froot Loops®), and under normal conditions; Chronic Stress group (S), receiving standard chow, and submitted to stressful situations; Chronic Stress/Comfort Food (SCF), receiving standard chow and comfort food, and submitted to stressful situations. The experiments initiated when animals completed three months of age. All groups had ad libitum access to standard rat chow and water, and groups receiving comfort food also had access to Froot Loops®. The chronic stress was induced by restriction, animals were daily contained in polypropylene tubes for two hours, for eight weeks. Body mass and food intake were checked weekly and daily, respectively. After eight weeks all animals were killed, and the penis were removed and fixed. The penile middle shaft was processed for paraffin embedding and used for histomorphometric analysis. Penile area, corpus cavernosum (with and without tunica albuginea) was measured, and the surface densities (Sv) of cavernosal tissues were quantified. Data were analyzed by One‐Way Anova with post‐test of Bonferroni, considering p