Short inescapable stress produces long-lasting changes in the brain-pituitary-adrenal axis of adult male rats.

Recently, we reported that rats exposed to a single and short session of inescapable footshocks showed alterations in behavioural response to environmental stimuli which developed progressively over a week and remained present for at least 28 days. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether these behavioural changes were accompanied by alterations in the brain-pituitary-adrenal axis. Male Wistar rats were subjected to 10 inescapable footshocks (S) of 6 s duration and 1 mA intensity during a period of 15 min. Control rats (C) were placed in the shock apparatus for 15 min without receiving shocks. The effects of these experimental procedures were studied 14 days later. Exposure to shocks did not affect basal plasma levels of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and corticosterone (CORT). However, the novelty-induced ACTH response was increased in S rats as compared to C rats whereas the CORT response did not differ between C and S rats. The ACTH content of the anterior pituitary gland and adrenal weight were not affected by exposure to inescapable footshocks 14 days earlier. Quantitative immunocytochemistry of vasopressin (AVP) and corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) in the external zone of the median eminence showed that prior footshock exposure increased the AVPi stores to 167% as compared to C rats, whereas CRFi content was not changed. In addition, S rats showed increased mineralocorticoid (MR) and glucocorticoid (GR) receptor binding capacity in the hippocampus as compared to C rats, whereas affinities were not affected. We conclude that a single and short session of inescapable footshocks has long-lasting effects on brain-pituitary-adrenal functioning concomitant with behavioural alterations.

Is vasopressin preferentially released from corticotropin-releasing factor and vasopressin containing nerve terminals in the median eminence of adrenalectomized rats?

The effects of adrenalectomy (ADX) on the amounts of immunoreactive corticotropin-releasing factor (CRFi) and arginine vasopressin (AVPi) that are stored in the zona externa of the median eminence (ZEME) were investigated by means of quantitative immunocytochemistry. Although ADX of male Wistar rats for 1 week or 4 weeks did not affect CRFi in the ZEME as compared to sham-operated or intact controls, AVPi showed a progressive accumulation. The ratio of AVPi over CRFi in the ZEME had already increased 1 day after ADX. However, it should be noted that the exact changes in CRFi and AVPi as measured by radioimmunoassay and/or quantitative immunocytochemistry were dependent on the substrain of rats used. The secretion rate of CRFi and AVPi was estimated in 1 week and 4 week ADX rats, by measuring the disappearance rate of CRFi and AVPi from the ZEME after blockade of fast axonal transport, by a low non-toxic dose of colchicine (5 micrograms per rat). In contrast to intact rats, where this dose of colchicine did not affect CRFi or AVPi in the ZEME, ADX rats showed a progressive depletion of the CRFi and AVPi stores as measured 2.5 and 5 h later. In 1 week ADX rats, CRFi and AVPi both disappeared at a rate of 7% to 8% of their stores per hour. In contrast, after 4 weeks of ADX the fractional disappearance rates of CRFi and AVPi were different and were 3% and 8% of the content per hour, respectively.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Chronic stress enhances vasopressin but not corticotropin-releasing factor secretion during hypoglycemia.

Quantitative immunocytochemistry was used to investigate the effect of chronic intermittent stress on the storage and release of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) and arginine vasopressin (AVP) in the zona externa of the median eminence (ZEME). Wistar rats were subjected to repeated once daily insulin stress and studied 24 h after the last episode of hypoglycemia. Chronic intermittent hypoglycemia differentially affected CRF immuno-staining (CRFi) and AVPi stores in the ZEME, characterized by a transitory fall in CRFi (7 days) and a gradual increase in AVPi (11 days). The acute hypothalamic response to stress was studied by measuring insulin-induced depletion of CRFi and AVPi in the ZEME after blockade of fast axonal transport with colchicine (5 micrograms/rat ic). Three hours after insulin, CRFi was reduced by 24 and 28% in naive and repeatedly (11 times) stressed animals, respectively. In contrast, insulin did not affect CRFi in rats exposed to hypoglycemia for 7 days. In addition, hypoglycemia reduced AVPi in the ZEME by 37, 42, and 54% in naive and repeatedly (7 and 11 times) stressed rats, respectively. We conclude that chronic intermittent hypoglycemia induces a shift in hypothalamic signals for adrenocorticotropic hormone release in favor of AVP. This may result in altered sensitivity of the corticotrophs for hypophysiotropic factors and corticosteroids that are of physiological importance for the pituitary response to subsequent stressors.

Chronic psychosocial stress enhances vasopressin, but not corticotropin-releasing factor, in the external zone of the median eminence of male rats: relationship to subordinate status.

Male Wistar rats living in hierarchically structure male/female colonies were used to investigate the effects of chronic psychosocial stress on the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal system. Colony-housed subordinates were compared to control rats housed in male-female pairs. Classical parameters of chronic stress (thymus involution, impaired somatic growth, and elevated resting plasma corticosterone level) were found in all subordinate rats. Changes in vasopressin (AVP) and CRF stored in the external zone of the median eminence (ZEME) were measured by quantitative immunocytochemistry. Chronic psychosocial stress for 19-28 days increased AVP immunostaining in the ZEME to 160-190% of that in pair-housed controls, whereas CRF immunostaining in the ZEME remained unchanged. Within colonies, subordinates differed in avoidance behavior and aggression received (subordinate status). This intracolony subordination rank was correlated with AVP in the ZEME (P less than 0.01). Although resting corticosterone was elevated in subordinate rats (P less than 0.01), the increase in AVP was not associated with detectable secretion of AVP and/or CRF from the ZEME, as measured after blockade of axonal transport. In control rats, interaction with a dominant male increased plasma ACTH and corticosterone levels and caused depletion of AVP, but not CRF, from the ZEME. Subordinates showed suppressed hypothalamic (AVP depletion), pituitary (plasma ACTH) and adrenal (plasma corticosterone) responses to interaction with the dominant male, which may reflect suppressive actions of elevated corticosterone on CRF neurons or suprahypothalamic centers.

Repeated stress enhances vasopressin synthesis in corticotropin releasing factor neurons in the paraventricular nucleus.

The effect of repeated stress on corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) and vasopressin (AVP) synthesis in parvocellular neurons of the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) was studied by means of double label immunocytochemistry. Once daily immobilization of male rats for 16 days leads to a 75% increase in the number of CRF immunoreactive neurons, but a 5-fold elevation in the number of AVP containing CRF cell bodies. These results demonstrate that repeated stress activates AVP synthesis in CRF neurons.

Repeated stress-induced activation of corticotropin-releasing factor neurons enhances vasopressin stores and colocalization with corticotropin-releasing factor in the median eminence of rats.

Stress-induced release of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) and vasopressin (AVP) was studied in rats by measuring the decline of CRF and AVP stores in the median eminence after blockade of fast axonal transport with colchicine (5 micrograms per rat intracisternally). Quantitative immunocytochemistry was used to detect changes in CRFi and AVPi in the external zone of the median eminence (ZEME) selectively. Immobilization stress induced a fast ACTH response to 1,000-2,000 pg/ml which was associated with a fall in both CRFi and AVPi of 34% during the first 30 min. This is followed by different time courses of further AVPi and CRFi depletion. In addition, we investigated the effect of repeated daily stress exposure on CRFi and AVPi in the ZEM 1 day after stress exposure. Repeated daily immobilization for 9 or 16 subsequent days did not affect the CRFi stores in the ZEME, but increased the AVPi stores to 161 +/- 13% and 218 +/- 11% respectively. Quantitative analysis of electron microphotographs of repeatedly handled rats showed a mean density of CRF positive profiles in the ZEME of 45.5 +/- 2.5 per 500 microns 2 of which 25% also stained for pro-AVP-derived peptides. After 9 subsequent days of immobilization the total density of CRF-positive profiles remained unchanged, but the fraction of CRF swellings that also stained for pro-AVP-derived peptides increased approximately 2-fold. We conclude that (1) the secretion of AVPi and CRFi from the ZEME are independently controlled, indicating differential activation of AVP containing and AVP deficient CRF neurons during acute immobilization, and (2) repeated stress leads to plastic changes in hypothalamic CRF neurons resulting in increased AVP stores and colocalization in CRF nerve terminals.

Hypoglycemia enhances turnover of corticotropin-releasing factor and of vasopressin in the zona externa of the rat median eminence.

Insulin administration to overnight fasted rats causes a dose-dependent decline in plasma glucose concentrations and a dose-dependent increase in plasma ACTH concentrations. The ACTH response, but not the glucose response, was blocked by treatment with chlorpromazine-morphine-pentobarbital, indicating that the main factors triggering the ACTH response are of central, rather than peripheral, origin. To study whether insulin affected the turnover of CRF and vasopressin (AVP) in the zona externa of the median eminence (ZEME), we determined the rate of decline of both hypophysiotropic factors in rats with or without blockade of axonal transport by colchicine. In the ZEME, the concentrations of CRF and AVP were assessed by quantitative immunocytochemistry (QICC) in tissue sections or by RIA in median eminence extracts. QICC allows selective quantification of AVP and other peptides within the ZEME. The changes in the CRF content, as measured by QICC and RIA, were linearly correlated (r = 0.99), demonstrating that changes in peptide-staining intensity reflect changes in peptide content. Colchicine, when given intracisternally in a nontoxic dose of 5 micrograms, had no marked effect on resting plasma levels of ACTH and only slightly reduced the ACTH response to insulin-induced hypoglycemia. In the ZEME, CRF and AVP concentrations at rest were not affected by colchicine. In colchicine-treated rats insulin-induced hypoglycemia resulted in a prominent decline in CRF and AVP concentrations in the ZEME. The CRF concentration declined at a rate of 23%/h over a period of 3 h. The AVP concentration declined to a similar extent as CRF over the first hour, but tended to fall at the later time points. We conclude that hypoglycemia increases turnover of both CRF and AVP in the ZEME. However, the turnover rates of both hypophysiotropic peptides do not appear to be quantitatively coupled.