Psychosocial stress and fertility: The preventive potentials of Vitamin E

Background: Chronic exposure to psychosocial stressor could lead to various side effects, such as maladaptation by various physiological and immunological systems. Objective: This study investigated psychosocial stress-induced damage on the testes and epididymis using animal models and the effects of Vitamin E. Materials and Methods: A total 40 adult Wistar rats were divided into 2 groups (S and L) representing 52 and 104 days of experimentation. The 2 groups were subdivided into 4 groups each (S = A–D and L = E–H, n = 5 each). Groups A and E served as control, B and F were psychosocially stressed, C and G were administered 50 mg/kg of Vitamin E, while D and H were psychosocially stressed and administered 50 mg/kg of Vitamin E for 52 and 104 days, respectively. Psychosocial stress was induced on the rats using cats as predator. The weight, blood parameters, and tissue samples were obtained on days 53 and 105 and analyzed. Statistical analysis was carried out using GraphPad Prism Version 8 (San Diego, CA, USA). Results: Psychosocial stress resulted in a significant reduction in weight and negatively affected oxidative stress markers and sperm parameters of the animals (P < 0.05). Histological analysis showed that stress arrested spermatogenesis and disorganized the seminiferous tubular epithelium and reduced the semen quality. There was scanty sperm in the epididymis of stressed groups. However, Vitamin E reversed these changes and improved the quality of semen compared to the negative control group. Conclusion: Vitamin E was potent at ameliorating the deleterious effects of psychosocially induced stress.