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Social stress induces hypothalamo‐pituitary‐adrenal axis responses in lactating rats bred for high trait anxiety
Author(s) -
Douglas A. J.,
Meddle S. L.,
Kroemer S.,
Muesch W.,
Bosch O. J.,
Neumann I. D.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
european journal of neuroscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.346
H-Index - 206
eISSN - 1460-9568
pISSN - 0953-816X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2007.05380.x
Subject(s) - lactation , parvocellular cell , anxiety , stressor , hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis , endocrinology , medicine , social stress , psychology , corticotropin releasing hormone , hormone , hypothalamus , developmental psychology , biology , neuroscience , pregnancy , psychiatry , genetics
Hypothalamo‐pituitary‐adrenal axis responses to various stressors are typically attenuated during lactation, including in rats selectively bred for high or low anxiety. As high‐anxiety dams are more aggressive towards intruders than low‐anxiety dams during maternal defence, we investigated their hypothalamo‐pituitary‐adrenal axis responses to this social stress. Maternal defence induced elevated stress responses in high‐anxiety dams only; nerve‐growth‐factor‐induced gene B mRNA expression in the parvocellular paraventricular nucleus and adrenocorticotropin hormone secretory responses were substantially enhanced after maternal defence. In contrast, secretory responses to a non‐social stress (elevated platform) were not different between high‐ and low‐anxiety dams. Thus, responsiveness of the stress axis in lactation is dependent upon the innate level of anxiety of the dam and, as a consequence, her reactiveness to social threat.