ABSTRACT
The phospholipid composition of the viscera, such as the heart, liver, the fundal part of the stomach, arterial wall and the truncal part of the brain, was studied in rats exposed to chronic stress. The changes in the visceral phospholipid spectrum during chronic stress were found to be phasic, which appeared as significant increases in parameters under study within the first fortnight and their drastic drop at month 2 of stress. The time course of changes occurring in the phospholipid spectrum was held to be associated with adaptive and maladaptive phases of chronic stress. Unlike the viscera, the brain and erythrocytes showed no substantial changes in the major phospholipid fractions during chronic stress. The findings are regarded as evidence for the change-over of carbohydrate oxidation to lipid oxidation in the viscera during chronic stress, but not in the brain and erythrocytes.
