Effects of acute immobilization stress on vermal cerebellar cortex of young male rats

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to observe the morphological changes in vermal cerebellar cortex of young male rats with special reference to Perkinje cell after exposure to acute immobilization stress. An experimental study. Department of Anatomy CPSP Regional Centre, Islamabad, from August 2006 to July 2007. A total of sixty young male Sprague Dawley rats were taken and divided equally in two groups [n=30 in each] A= control B= experimental. Experimental group was kept in restrainer for 24 hours continuously, one rat per restrainer separately. At the end of the experiment, all the animals of both groups A and B were anesthetized and sacrificed for the removal of cerebellum, which was fixed in 10% farmalin. Histological evaluation of sections was done after staining with Hematoxylin and Eosin. The observations were recorded in the central folium of the vermal cerebellar cortex in a specified area i.e. in front of the fissura prima. Significant decrease in total cell count and cell size was found in experimental group as compared with control. Although increase in thickness of vermal cerebellar cortex and molecular layer was observed in stressed animals but no significant association was seen between experimental and control animals. Number of dark cells was found more in stressed animals as compared with control however it was insignificant. Immobilization stress can cause the neuronal injury