title: Chronic psychosocial stress induces visceral hyperalgesia in mice.
abstract: Experimental and clinical evidence has shown that chronic stress plays an important role in the onset and/or exacerbation of symptoms of functional gastrointestinal disorders. Here, we aimed to investigate whether exposure to a chronic and temporally unpredictable psychosocial stressor alters visceral and somatic nociception as well as anxiety-related behaviour. In male C57BL/6J mice, chronic stress was induced by repeated exposure to social defeat (SD, 2 h) and overcrowding (OC, 24 h) during 19 consecutive days. Visceral and somatic nociception was evaluated by colorectal distension and a hot plate, respectively. The social interaction test was used to assess social anxiety. Mice exposed to psychosocial stress developed visceral hyperalgesia and somatic hypoalgesia 24 h following the last stress session. SD/OC mice also exhibited social anxiety-like behaviour. All these changes were also associated with physiological alterations, measured as a decreased faecal pellet output and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis disruption. Taken together, these data confirm that this mouse model of chronic psychosocial stress may be useful for studies on the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying such stress-associated disorders and to further test potential therapies.
authors: Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
authors: Mónica
authors: M
authors: Tramullas
authors: Timothy G
authors: TG
authors: Dinan
authors: John F
authors: JF
authors: Cryan
mesh_terms: D000311:Adrenal Glands / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology; D001285:Atropine / Q000494:pharmacology; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003106:Colon / Q000502:physiology; D003345:Corticosterone / Q000097:blood; D003441:Crowding / Q000523:psychology; D005283:Fentanyl / Q000494:pharmacology; D006930:Hyperalgesia / Q000209:etiology*; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018727:Muscarinic Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D009929:Organ Size / Q000502:physiology; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000187:drug effects; D010812:Physical Stimulation; D011930:Reaction Time; D012007:Rectum / Q000502:physiology; D012931:Social Environment; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications*; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000033:anatomy & histology
chemical_list: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid; D018727:Muscarinic Antagonists; D001285:Atropine; D005283:Fentanyl; D003345:Corticosterone