Effect of various physical stress models on serum cortisol level in wistar rats.
BACKGROUND
Stress indicates the response or reaction of an organism to the environmental circumstances and their outcomes. Acute stress is well known to trigger several hormonal alterations in animals. An increase in glucocorticoid concentration can represent intensity of discomfort or distress experienced by an animal. The study was undertaken to evaluate the effects of various physical stress models on serum cortisol level in Wistar male rats.


METHODS
In this study six Wistar male rats weighing 150-200 gm were randomly selected. Animals were exposed to 'forced swim test' and 'restraint test'. Their serum cortisol level was measured by ELISA test using alpha prime ELISA system before and after the tests respectively.


RESULTS
RESULTS were analyzed by students paired t-test. Serum cortisol level was significantly higher after forced swim test as well as after restraint test. When both the physical activities were compared, serum cortisol level was increased more after restraint stress than after forced swim test however, the difference was not significant statistically.


CONCLUSIONS
The rise in serum cortisol level was observed in both the physical activity models . Rise in serum cortisol level was significantly higher after restraint test than exposing them to forced swim test. This indicates that restraining the rats produced more stress than making them forcefully swim.
Third Year MSc Student, Department of Physiology, Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University Medical College , Pune, India .
Mohammed Khaleel
MK
Jameel
Assistant Professor, Department of Physiology, Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University Medical College , Pune, India .
Anuradha Rajiv
AR
Joshi
Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology, Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University Medical College , Pune, India .
Jayashree
J
Dawane
Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University Medical College , Pune, India .
Meghana
M
Padwal
Professor and Head, Department of Physiology, Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University Medical College , Pune, India .
Ar
A
Joshi
Professor and Head, Department of Pharmacology, Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University Medical College , Pune, India .
V A
VA
Pandit
Professor and Head, Department of Biochemistry, Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University Medical College , Dhanakawadi, Pune, Maharashtra, India .
Rr
R
Melinkeri
Forced swim test; Restraint test