1. Double suprarenalectomy in growing rats is an additional stimulus for thymic growth and brings about marked prepubertal hyperplasia of this gland. 2. Our results on young rats suggest that the suprarenal cortex may be a factor in the excessive thymic hyperplasias seen in infants and children.

Prepubertal exposure to soy or its biologically active component genistein reduces later breast cancer risk in both animal models and human populations. We investigated whether that might be due to reported estrogenic properties of genistein. Our study indicated that daily prepubertal exposures between postnatal days 7 and 20 to 10 microg 17beta-estradiol (E2) reduced later risk of developing 7...

BACKGROUND Prepubertal varicocele has the most devastating effects on the testes. Oxidative stress is the major cause leading to infertility in varicocele. The antioxidant properties of Flaxseed (FS) treatment in some oxidative diseases have been reported. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to evaluate the antioxidant effect of FS in prepubertal rats with experimental varicocele. MATERIALS AND METH...

OBJECTIVE Excitatory amino acids, gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA), serotonin and catecholamines are involved in the control of GH secretion. The actions of these neurotransmitters are interconnected, and recently we showed that the stimulatory effect of GABA was blocked by MK-801, an antagonist of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors. The present experiments were carried out to analyze the interrelat...

OBJECTIVE Open testicular biopsy (OTB) is one of the options to accurately assess fertility potential of the undescended testis. The aim of the study was to investigate consequences of OTB in prepubertal rats on their adulthood fertility. METHODS Thirty-eight prepubertal male rats were divided into three groups depending on day 20 procedure. The first group was the control group, the second s...

In rats, prepubertal exposure to low-fat diet containing n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) reduces mammary cell proliferation, increases apoptosis, and lowers risk of mammary tumors in adulthood, whereas prepubertal high-fat n-3 PUFA exposure has opposite effects. To identify signaling pathways mediating these effects, we performed gene microarray analyses and determined protein levels of ...

The present study was conducted to examine whether prepubertal-onset exercise might help adults maintain long-term body weight (BW) reduction and increased energy metabolism after the cessation of exercise. Furthermore, the effects of the exercise regimen were compared with those of food restriction. Twenty-three male obese-diabetic [Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty (OLETF)] rats were randomly...

Atresia is the process through which non-selectable oocytes are eliminated; it involves apoptosis and/or autophagy. This study used immunohistochemical and ultrastructural techniques to characterize the lamellae present in the cytoplasm of oocytes in follicles in the process of atresia in prepubertal and adult Wistar rats. The results indicate that the lamellae are positive to tubulin and myosi...

BACKGROUND There are no previous reports of the effects of prepubertal exposure to zeranol, an estrogenic substance, on estrogen-responsive reproductive organs and mammary glands in rats, or its effects on N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU)-induced mammary tumorigenesis in rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS Prepubertal female Sprague-Dawley rats were treated daily with either 0, 0.1 or 10 mg/kg body weigh...

In animal studies using oral dosing for short periods, di (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) is well known for its reproductive toxicity, especially for its testicular toxicity. However, extending the period of DEHP exposure in prepubertal rats resulted in significant increases in testosterone. This suggests that the reproductive effect of DEHP might be associated with the timing and the term of e...