Individual differences in the neuroendocrine response of male rats to emotional stressors are not trait-like and strongly depend on the intensity of the stressors
Nadal i Alemany, Roser (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Neurociències)
Gabriel Salazar, Marina (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Neurociències)
Sanchís Ollé, Maria (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Neurociències)
Gagliano, Humberto Antonio (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Neurociències)
Belda, Xavier (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Neurociències)
Armario Garcia, Antonio (Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental)

Date:	2021
Abstract:	Biological response to stressors is critical to understand stress-related pathologies and vulnerability to psychiatric diseases. It is assumed that we can identify trait-like characteristics in biological responsiveness by testing subjects in a particular stressful situation, but there is scarce information on this issue. We then studied, in a normal outbred population of adult male rats (n = 32), the response of well-characterized stress markers (ACTH, corticosterone and prolactin) to different types of stressors: two novel environments (open-field, OF1 and OF2), an elevated platform (EP), forced swim (SWIM) and immobilization (IMO). Based on both plasma ACTH and prolactin levels, the OF1 was the lowest intensity situation, followed by the OF2 and the EP, then SWIM and finally IMO. When correlations between the individual responses to the different stressors were studied, the magnitude of the correlations was most dependent on the similarities in intensity rather than on other characteristics of stressors, with good correlations between similar intensity stressors and no correlations at all were found between stressors markedly differing in intensity. In two additional confirmatory experiments (n = 37 and n = 20) with HPA hormones, we observed good correlation between the response to restraint and IMO, which were close in intensity, and no correlation between OF1 and SWIM. The present results suggest that individual neuroendocrine response to a particular stressor does not predict the response to another stressor greatly differing in intensity, thus precluding characterization of low or high responsive individuals to any stressor in a normal population. The present data have important implications for human studies.
Grants:	Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca SGR2017-00457 Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación SAF2017-83430-R Instituto de Salud Carlos III CB19/09/00029 Instituto de Salud Carlos III FEDER7S-20IU16-0019 Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación SAF2017-83430-R
Note:	Altres ajuts: acords transformatius de la UAB
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, i la comunicació pública de l'obra, sempre que no sigui amb finalitats comercials, i sempre que es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original. No es permet la creació d'obres derivades.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Stress markers ; Individual differences ; Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis ; Prolactin ; Reliability ; Consistency
Published in:	Psychoneuroendocrinology, Vol. 125 (march 2021) , p. 105127, ISSN 1873-3360

DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2021.105127
PMID: 33453596

8 p, 1.5 MB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Health sciences and biosciences > Institut de Neurociències (INc)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles