Effect of Restraint Stress on the Adrenal Cortex of Prepubertal Male Albino Rat: A Histological and Immunohistochemical Study

Background: The adrenal gland is the foremost stress responsive organ. This study was done to demonstrate the restraint stress-induced histological and immunohistochemical changes occurring in the adrenal cortex during the prepubertal stage of development.Material and Methods: Forty male prepubertal albino rats (3 weeks old) of Wistar strain were included. The rats were divided into two groups; the control group and the stressed group. The stressed group was subjected to restraint stress for 14 days. The glands were subjected to light microscopic examination using Hx E, Masson s trichrome stains, and immunohistochemical examination using Ki67 and followed by statistical analy sis of the mean area percent of fibrosis and optical density of immunoreactivity.Results: The stress-induced changes were in the form of appearance of areas of areas of congestion and degeneration, increase in the mean area percent of collagen as well as appearance of immunoreactive nuclei. These findings were absent in the control group.Conclusion: Stress caused modifications in the adrenal cortex structure and proliferative activity. This proliferative characterisitic makes the adrenal gland a model system for the study of tissue renewal to accommodate needs.