Repeated exposure to two stressors in sequence demonstrates that corticosterone and paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus interleukin ‐1β responses habituate independently

A wide range of stress‐related pathologies such as post‐traumatic stress disorder are considered to arise from aberrant or maladaptive forms of stress adaptation. The hypothalamic‐pituitary‐adrenal (HPA) axis readily adapts to repeated stressor exposure, yet little is known about adaptation in neuroimmune responses to repeated or sequential stress challenges. In Experiment 1, rats were exposed to 10 days of restraint alone (60 minutes daily), forced swim alone (30 minutes daily) or daily sequential exposure to restraint (60 minutes) followed immediately by forced swim (30 minutes), termed sequential stress exposure. Habituation of the corticosterone (CORT) response occurred to restraint by 5 days and swim at 10 days, whereas rats exposed to sequential stress exposure failed to display habituation to the combined challenge. Experiment 2 compared 1 or 5 days of forced swim with sequential stress exposure and examined how each affected expression of several neuroimmune and cellular activation genes in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN), prefrontal cortex (PFC) and hippocampus (HPC). Sequential exposure to restraint and swim increased interleukin (IL)‐1β in the PVN, an effect that was attenuated after 5 days. Sequential stress exposure also elicited IL‐6 and tumour necrosis factor‐α responses in the HPC and PFC, respectively, which did not habituate after 5 days. Experiment 3 tested whether prior habituation to restraint (5 days) woul...
Source: Journal of Neuroendocrinology - Category: Endocrinology Authors: Tags: ORIGINAL ARTICLE Source Type: research