Background and purpose: Follicular atresia is a natural phenomenon throughout growth and development, but in excessive cases it causes disorders in the ovarian function which is the commonest cause of infertility. Outbreak of depression in women is twice as much as men. Electric-shock therapy could be used in the treatment of depression resistant to drugs. However, it has some side-effects. This research was conducted to study the effects of electric shock on ovarian follicular atresia. Materials and methods: In this experimental study, 70 albino mice weighing 28±1.5g (9-12 weeks) with normal sex cycle were divided into 15 groups (n= 5 per group) after determining estrous cycle stages by vaginal smear. The mice were allocated into four control groups in four estrous cycle stages, four groups receiving one shock in every four stages, four groups receiving two- shocks (with interval of 4 hours) in each stage of sex cycle and two shock groups in all phases of the cycle with one and two shocks, respectively. The shock was given by a laboratory electric shock device and was tolerable for mice. The samples of ovarian tissues were stained with hematoxylin-eosin. The follicles were then examined and counted by scaled lens of a light microscope. Results: In proestrus stage of sex cycle, a significant difference was seen between the one-shock group and other groups in mean rate of follicular atresia. Conclusion: This study indicated that receiving shock leads to an increase in the mean rate of atretic follicles and the most negative effect was observed in the one-shock group in proestrus phase.

Keywords: Electroshock, mice, estrous cycle, follicular atresia

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