title: The relation between pregnancy and stress in rats: considering corticosterone level, hippocampal caspase-3 and MAPK activation.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  There are some evidences indicating that stress can affect hippocampal survival and function. During pregnancy mother is exposed to more stress and anxiety; also adrenal gland response to ACTH and glucocorticoid secretion is increased. Hence this study was done to assess the effect of restraint stress on corticosterone level, hippocampal caspase-3 and MAPK activation during pregnancy.
  
  
  METHODS
  The restraint stress was applied in day 14 or days 14-20 (single and repeated stress) of rats' pregnancy. The hippocampi were isolated after last stress episode and western blot analysis was done to assess caspase-3 and MAPK activation. Data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA followed by Student-Newman-Keuls for multiple comparison.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our study showed that single and repeated stress both increase corticosterone level compared to non-stressed pregnant rats, but do not induce hippocampal apoptosis. Single stress increases transient JNK activation but not P38 and ERK. Repeated stress activated none of the MAPKs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It seems that pregnancy protects mother's hippocampus against stress-induced damages.
authors.affiliation: Shiraz Neuroscience Research Center and Department of Physiology, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran. marmoosavi@sums.ac.ir
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moosavi
authors.forename: Rasoul
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ghasemi
authors.forename: Nader
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Maghsoudi
authors.forename: Karim
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rastegar
authors.forename: Asadollah
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zarifkar
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D053148:Caspase 3 / Q000032:analysis*; D003345:Corticosterone / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000503:physiopathology; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000032:analysis*; D010766:Phosphorylation; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012149:Restraint, Physical; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000502:physiology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000503:physiopathology*
chemical_list: D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; C505410:Casp3 protein, rat; D053148:Caspase 3; D003345:Corticosterone