Background and Objective: Based on
both laboratory animal and human society studies, inequality in food intake and
social instability has adverse effects on individuals and community health.
However, it is not known whether social instability, food deprivation and food
inequality affect neuronal death and premature aging in young animals. To
address this question, the effect of food deprivation, food intake inequality
with or without unstable social status was evaluated and histopathological
changes in hippocampal pyramidal cells and aging process were investigated.    Materials and Methods: Forty eight
Newzealand white male rabbits were divided into six groups and different social
situations were applied to some groups during eight weeks. After the end of the
period of the experiment, lipofuscin accumulation and apoptosis as main markers
of aging were studied by long Ziehl Nelseen staining and the terminal
deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay in the hippocampal
pyramidal cells, respectively. Serum cortisol level was also measured.    Results: The simultaneous
application of the mentioned situations (i.e. food deprivation, social
inequality and instability) caused a significant change in lipofuscin
accumulation in the hippocampal pyramidal cells in comparison with the control
group (p < 0.005). The results also showed a significant increase in ratio of
apoptotic to normal cells in all of the stressed groups compared with control
(p < 0.05).    Conclusion: These findings suggest
that food deprivation, inequality in food intake and social instability can
enhance the apoptosis rate of hippocampal pyramidal cells through increasing
lipofuscin accumulation.