title: Stress through handling for vaginal screening, serotonin, and ACTH response to ether.
abstract: The effect of duration of handling for vaginal smear screening on the adrenal weight and acute ACTH response to ether were examined in 4-day-cycling female rats, sacrificed at 97-103 days of age on diestrus-2 after evaluation of resistance to handling, thymus weight, and hypothalamic serotonin (5-HT) and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA). Prolonged handling paralleled increased resistance (behavioral response) to handling and adrenal weight but was inversely related to thymus weight. The hypothalamic 5-HT, 5-HIAA, and 5-HIAA/5-HT ratio, compared to controls with similar conditions of handling, were not modified after 2.5 min of ether despite the ACTH rise. In ether-stressed rats, the ACTH response to ether was lower after prolonged handling compared to short handling paralleling decreased thymus weight. In contrast, 5-HT, 5-HIAA, and the 5-HIAA/5-HT ratio were higher, paralleling increased resistance and adrenal weight. The results suggest chronic activation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis with positive serotonergic involvement after prolonged handling and resistance during vaginal screening and a negative implication of this activation on the acute ACTH response to ether.
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Pharmacology, School of Medicine, University of Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sfikakis
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Galanopoulou
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Konstandi
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tsakayannis
mesh_terms: D000311:Adrenal Glands / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone / Q000097:blood*; D018685:Anesthetics, Inhalation / Q000633:toxicity*; D000818:Animals; D004031:Diestrus / Q000502:physiology; D004986:Ether / Q000633:toxicity*; D005260:Female; D006234:Handling, Psychological; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D009929:Organ Size / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012701:Serotonin / Q000378:metabolism*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D014621:Vagina / Q000502:physiology*; D015430:Weight Gain / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D018685:Anesthetics, Inhalation; D004986:Ether; D012701:Serotonin; D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone