Contemporary insight into long-lasting endocrine and behavioral consequences of stress in adolescents and preventive potential of the drugs

Abstract

The review presents literature data and the results of three-year experimental studies of the Department of
Endocrinology of Reproduction and Adaptation of the State Institution «V.P. Komisarenko Institute of Endocrinology and
Metabolism of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine» on the impact of chronic stress during puberty (pubertal
stress) on the reproductive and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis, as well as the preventive potential of
pharmacological agents for its consequences. The relationship between the HPA and the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal
(HPG) axes and the long-term consequences of pubertal stress are considered. Under the selected experimental conditions
(immobilization of rats for 1 hour per day for 30-45 days after birth), chronic pubertal stress can lead to adverse long-term
sex-specific effects on the reproductive and HPA axis of adult rats. In adult males who have undergone pubertal stress, while
maintaining normal levels of testosterone in the blood plasma, the quantitative and qualitative indicators of the spermogram
deteriorate, spermatogenesis is disrupted, and oxidative stress in the gonads increases. Chronic pubertal stress can cause a
decrease in the basal level of corticosterone. In adult females, no negative long-term effects of chronic pubertal stress on the
studied indicators of the HPA axis and the reproductive system were found, with the exception of an increase in the concentration
of lipid peroxidation products in the ovaries, which indicates their lower vulnerability compared to males. Activation of the
gamma-aminobutyric acid-ergic receptor with phenibut (amino-phenylbutyric acid hydrochloride) before stress sessions
worsens the quantitative and qualitative indicators of the spermogram in adulthood, reduces the level of testosterone in the
blood serum, and increases oxidative stress in the gonads of male rats compared to stressed animals. This indicates the risk of
side effects when using phenibut in adolescents for the prevention of stress and anxiety-neurotic states. Oral administration
of vitamin E before stress sessions in pubertal rats slightly improved the qualitative parameters of the spermogram of adult
animals, reducing the percentage of pathological forms of spermatozoa. In addition, the level of corticosterone in the blood
plasma after acute 1-hour stress was significantly higher than in those stressed only, although it did not reach the control level.
In animals that were administered melatonin before stress sessions, the studied parameters did not differ from those that were
exposed to pubertal stress only