Psychological stress impairs spermatogenesis through oxidative DNA damage and xanthine oxidase/uric acid signaling pathways: The role of gut microbiota

Background: Spermatogenesis can progress only normally in a tightly regulated redox environment under the fine regulation of testosterone and other hormones. This process is particularly vulnerable to stress, which can disturb the gut microbiome—an important factor in testicular function. However, it is not known if supplementation with probiotics can mitigate the effects of psychological stress on sperm production. This study aimed to investigate the effect of gut probiotics on testicular function of rats during psychological stress. Methods: Thirty-five adult male rats were randomly assigned into seven groups with five rats each. The research was divided into two phases: one week and two weeks' administration, in which the rats were subjected to probiotics only, stress only, and probiotics plus stress. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and student Newman-Keuls post hoc test for multiple comparisons at p <0.05 Results: Chronically stressed reduced testicular weight and testicular relative organ weight, the same as acutely stressed rats. However, treatment with probiotics resulted in statistically significant differences as a mitigating effect. Conclusion: Gut probiotics have a generally beneficial impact on the testes when evaluating biochemically and morphological parameters.