Significant Association between Sleep Deprivation and Somato Testicular Index: an experimental study on Albino Rats

Background: Sleep deprivation is total or partial absence of sleep. It is a risk factor for many diseases including disorders of reproductive system.
Objective: This study aimed to investigate the correlation between sleep deprivation and testicular morphology in albino rat model.
Method: Twelve adult albino rats with average weight 300±20 grams divided randomly into 6 as a control group and 6 as a study group. Study group was exposed to sleep deprivation by continuous light 24 h and intermittent noisy alarming shuffled daily regarding duration and timing. Weight of rats was reported at the beginning and at the end of the experiment. After general anesthesia and scarification, the testes were retrieved, fixed in Bouin's solution, dehydrated in an ascending series of alcohol, cleared in two changes of xylene and embedded in molten paraffin. Sections of 5 μ thicknesses were stained by hematoxylin and eosin. Relative testis weight, testicular volume, were determined and somato-teticular index was computed using SPSS version 24.
 Results: in the study group significant weight reduction was observed, however significant increased testicular volume and subsequent somato-testicular index STI (p < 0.05) were observed. Study group showed swollen edematous testes with redness appearance and apparently dilated vessels on the surface. Light microscopy showed slightly separated seminiferous tubules, reduced number of Leydig's cells containing apoptotic vacuoles as well as vacuoles within cells of Sertoli, atrophied seminiferous tubules with mild fluid accumulation within the stroma and reduced sperm cell count in the center.
 Conclusion: a statistically significant association between sleep deprivation and testicular damage had been detected together with alteration in somato-testicular index.