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Protection against depressive symptom‐induced impairments to cerebral vascular reactivity in female versus male rats (676.8)
Author(s) -
Stanley Shyla,
Brooks Steven,
Chantler Paul,
Butcher Joshua,
D'Audiffret Alexandre,
Frisbee Jefferson
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.28.1_supplement.676.8
Subject(s) - dilator , medicine , chronic stress , learned helplessness , stimulus (psychology) , endocrinology , vasoconstriction , anhedonia , depression (economics) , cardiology , psychology , clinical psychology , economics , psychotherapist , macroeconomics , dopamine
Chronic stress/depression alters vascular reactivity and can impact perfusion within target organs. In addition, they also can alter cerebral structure and mass ‐ leading to the question of associations between cerebrovascular reactivity and outcomes. To address this, we imposed 8 weeks of unpredictable chronic mild stress (UCMS) on rats of both genders at 9 weeks of age. In both genders, UCMS caused profound depressive symptoms, including reductions in chronic and stimulus‐induced grooming, learned helplessness and anhedonia, with elevated plasma cortisol. However, these behaviors were more severe in females. Endothelial‐dependent dilation (acetylcholine) was impaired in middle cerebral arteries (MCA) in both genders owing to a reduced NO bioavailability and increased production of ROS and TxA2. There was also a mild increase in serotonin‐induced and myogenic constriction of MCA from males. In females, alterations to constrictor and dilator reactivity were blunted, as were elevated ROS and constrictor prostanoids. These results suggest that female rats may have a protection against depression‐induced alterations to cerebrovascular reactivity. Grant Funding Source : Supported by National Institutes of Health and American Heart Association