Restraint stress enhances alcohol intake in adolescent female rats but reduces alcohol intake in adolescent male and adult female rats

In the present study, we aimed to assess the impact of early life stress, in the form of early maternal deprivation (MD, 24 h on postnatal day, pnd, 9), on voluntary alcohol intake in adolescent male and femaleWistarrats. During adolescence, from pnd 28 to pnd 50, voluntary ethanol intake (20%, v/v) was investigated using the two-bottle free choice paradigm. To better understand the relationship between stress and alcohol consumption, voluntary alcohol intake was also evaluated following additional stressful events later in life, that is, a week of alcohol cessation and a week of alcohol cessation combined with exposure to restraint stress. Female animals consumed more alcohol than males only after a second episode of alcohol cessation combined with restraint stress. MD did not affect baseline voluntary alcohol intake but increased voluntary alcohol intake after stress exposure, indicating that MD may render animals more vulnerable to the effects of stress on alcohol intake. During adolescence, when animals had free access to alcohol, MD animals showed lower body weight gain but a higher growth rate than control animals. Moreover, the higher growth rate was accompanied by a decrease in food intake, suggesting an altered metabolic regulation in MD animals that may interact with alcohol intake.

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RasGRF1 regulates the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis specifically in early-adolescent female mice

Journal of Endocrinology ◽

10.1530/joe-15-0304 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 227 (1) ◽

pp. 1-12 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Belkis Gizem Uzturk ◽

Shan-xue Jin ◽

Beverly Rubin ◽

Christopher Bartolome ◽

Larry A Feig

Keyword(s):

Psychiatric Disorders ◽

Hpa Axis ◽

Knockout Mice ◽

Restraint Stress ◽

Molecular Mechanisms ◽

Early Adolescent ◽

Adolescent Male ◽

Adolescent Female ◽

Nucleotide Exchange ◽

Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal

Dysregulation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis has been implicated in the induction and prolongation of a variety of psychiatric disorders. As such, much effort has been made to understand the molecular mechanisms involved in its control. However, the vast majority of the studies on the HPA axis have used adult animals, and among these the majority has used males. Here we show that in knockout mice lacking the guanine nucleotide exchange factor, RasGRF1, habituation to 30 min/day of restraint stress is markedly accelerated, such that these mice do not display elevated corticosterone levels or enhanced locomotion after 7 days of stress exposure, like WT mice do. Strikingly, this phenotype is present in early-adolescent female RasGRF1 knockout mice, but not in their early-adolescent male, mid-adolescent female, adult female or adult male counterparts. Moreover, not only is there a clear response to restraint stress in early-adolescent female RasGRF1 knockout mice, their response after one, three and five exposures is magnified approximately threefold compared to WT mice. These findings imply that distinct mechanisms exist to regulate the HPA axis in early-adolescent females that involves RasGRF1. A full understanding of how RasGRF1 controls the HPA axis response to stress may be required to design effective strategies to combat stress-associated psychiatric disorders initiated in young females.

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Gestational IV Nicotine Potentiates Cocaine-Induced Locomotor Activity in Adult Female Rats

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e617962012-324 ◽

2008 ◽

Author(s):

Steven B. Harrod

Keyword(s):

Locomotor Activity ◽

Adult Female ◽

Female Rats

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CORTICOSTEROID-UMSATZ UND CORTICOSTEROID-PRODUKTION BEI RATTEN UNTER DER BEHANDLUNG MIT ANABOLEN STEROIDEN

Acta Endocrinologica ◽

10.1530/acta.0.0480263 ◽

1965 ◽

Vol 48 (2) ◽

pp. 263-271 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Herbert Schriefers ◽

Gerlinde Scharlau ◽

Franzis Pohl

Keyword(s):

Production Rate ◽

Adult Female ◽

Anabolic Steroids ◽

Reduction Rate ◽

Female Rats ◽

Adrenal Weight ◽

Hydrogenase Activity ◽

Anabolic Effect ◽

Liver Slices

ABSTRACT After the administration of anabolic steroids to adult female rats in daily doses of 1 mg per animal for 14 days, the following parameters were investigated: the rate of the Δ4-5α-hydrogenase-catalyzed cortisone reduction in liver slices and microsomal fractions, the adrenal weight and the in vitro corticosterone production rate. Among the steroids tested, only 17α-methyl-testosterone and 17α-ethyl-19-nor-testosterone were effective in lowering significantly cortisone reduction rate by liver slices with concomitant decreases in microsomal Δ4-5α-hydrogenase-activity. Testosterone, 19-nor-testosterone, 17α-ethinyl-19-nor-testosterone, 17α-methyl-17β-hydroxy-androsta-1,4-dien-3-one and 1-methyl-17β-hydroxy-androst-1-en-3-one were ineffective or only slightly effective. Adrenal weight and absolute corticosterone production rate (μg/60 min per animal) were decreased after treatment with 17α-methyl-testosterone, 17α-ethyl-19-nor-testosterone and 1-methyl-17β-hydroxy-androst-1-en-3-one. Corticosterone production was decreased with 17α-ethinyl-19-nor-testosterone in spite of an unchanged adrenal weight. The relative corticosterone production rate (μg/60 min · 100 mg adrenal) was in any cases unaffected. According to these results there exists – with the exception of 17α-ethinyl-19-nor-testosterone – a strict parallelism between corticosteroid turnover and corticosterone production rate: unchanged turnover is correlated with unchanged corticosterone production rate, while a decreased turnover is correlated with decreased adrenal activity. The protein-anabolic effect of certain anabolic steroids may be partly due to an anti-catabolic action of these compounds resulting from a decreased corticosteroid inactivation and production rate. Possible mechanisms by which anabolic steroids may affect corticosteroid-balance are discussed.

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THE HYPOTHALAMUS AND PROPYLTHIOURACIL-INDUCED GOITRE IN THE RAT

Acta Endocrinologica ◽

10.1530/acta.0.0420254 ◽

1963 ◽

Vol 42 (2) ◽

pp. 254-262 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

J. J. van der Werff ten Bosch ◽

H. E. Swanson

Keyword(s):

Steady State ◽

Thyroid Hormone ◽

Adult Female ◽

Normal Diet ◽

Anterior Hypothalamus ◽

Female Rats ◽

Intact Rats

ABSTRACT Adult female rats were given a normal diet, or a diet which contained 0.15% propylthiouracil. At the beginning of the experiment one half of the rats were left intact, whilst the others received an electrolytic basal midline lesion in the anterior hypothalamus. Of each of the four groups of rats, one half was killed after 14 days, the others after 28 days. It was found (both after 14 and after 28 days) that the presence of a lesion reduced the thyroid weight to approximately 75% of the value in intact rats on the same diet, which might be normal or contain propylthiouracil. Propylthiouracil caused thyroid enlargement (to 278% after 14 days and 352–360% after 28 days) in intact rats as compared with intact rats on a normal diet, and in lesioned rats as compared with lesioned rats on a normal diet. It is concluded that lesions cause a lowered steady state of the thyroid-pituitary feed-back system, but that this system responds normally to the alteration of the steady state caused by the propylthiouracil-induced block in thyroid hormone output.

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BEFUNDE AM GENITALTRAKTUS DER RATTE NACH CORTICOTROPIN-INJECTION UND IHRE DEUTUNG UNTER BERÜCKSICHTIGUNG DES ZELLBILDES DER ADENOHYPOPHYSE

Acta Endocrinologica ◽

10.1530/acta.0.xxxii0167 ◽

1959 ◽

Vol XXXII (II) ◽

pp. 167-176 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Walter Schätzle

Keyword(s):

Adult Female ◽

Single Injection ◽

Anterior Lobe ◽

Vaginal Epithelium ◽

Female Rats ◽

Normal Adult ◽

List Type

ABSTRACT In normal adult female rats a single injection of 5 IU corticotrophin was followed by a retention of glucoproteid material in the anterior lobe of the hypophysis and by impairment of the luteinization. In spayed adult female rats the same corticotrophin administration caused stratification and mucification of the vaginal epithelium.

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