title: Immunological parameters of the blood and monoamine content in the brain of rats during long-term overcrowding.
abstract: Blood immunological parameters (cytokine profile and interferon status) and the level of monoamines and their metabolites in various brain structures (amygdala, hippocampus, septum, and hypothalamus) were studied in rats kept under standard conditions or in overpopulated cages. Long-term overcrowding was associated with reduced expression of IL-4 gene, increased transcription of IL-17, and decreased production of IFN-γ, which attested to impaired humoral and cell-mediated immunity and disturbances in IFN-γ synthesis at the post-transcriptional level. Under these conditions, the levels of norepinephrine and dopamine decreased in the septum, but increased in the hypothalamus. The amount of dopamine metabolite dihydroxyphenylacetic acid decreased in both these structures, and the index of dopamine metabolism (dihydroxyphenylacetic acid/dopamine ratio, DOPAC/dopamine) decreased only in the hypothalamus. Overcrowding was not followed by changes in the parameters of noradrenergic and dopaminergic systems in the amygdala and hippocampus and serotoninergic system in all study structures.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology, Russian Academy of Sciences; D. I. Ivanovskii Institute of Virology, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation; V. V. Zakusov Institute of Pharmacology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia. losvnd@mail.ru.
authors.forename: E V
authors.initials: EV
authors.lastname: Loseva
authors.forename: N A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Loginova
authors.forename: M V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Mezentseva
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Klodt
authors.forename: V S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Kudrin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015306:Biogenic Monoamines / Q000378:metabolism*; D003441:Crowding / Q000523:psychology*; D015870:Gene Expression; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000378:metabolism*; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000097:blood; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000097:blood; D007378:Interleukins / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D015306:Biogenic Monoamines; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D007378:Interleukins; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D007371:Interferon-gamma