title: Subacute stress and chronic stress interact to decrease intestinal barrier function in rats.
abstract: Psychological stress increases intestinal permeability, potentially leading to low-grade inflammation and symptoms in functional gastrointestinal disorders. We assessed the effect of subacute, chronic and combined stress on intestinal barrier function and mast cell density. Male Wistar rats were allocated to four experimental groups (n = 8/group): 1/sham; 2/subacute stress (isolation and limited movement for 24 h); 3/chronic crowding stress for 14 days and 4/combined subacute and chronic stress. Jejunum and colon were collected to measure: transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER; a measure of epithelial barrier function); gene expression of tight junction molecules; mast cell density. Plasma corticosterone concentration was increased in all three stress conditions versus sham, with highest concentrations in the combined stress condition. TEER in the jejunum was decreased in all stress conditions, but was significantly lower in the combined stress condition than in the other groups. TEER in the jejunum correlated negatively with corticosterone concentration. Increased expression of claudin 1, 5 and 8, occludin and zonula occludens 1 mRNAs was detected after subacute stress in the jejunum. In contrast, colonic TEER was decreased only after combined stress, and the expression of tight junction molecules was unaltered. Increased mast cell density was observed in the chronic and combined stress condition in the colon only. In conclusion, our data show that chronic stress sensitizes the gastrointestinal tract to the effects of subacute stress on intestinal barrier function; different underlying cellular and molecular alterations are indicated in the small intestine versus the colon.
authors.affiliation: a Translational Research Center for Gastrointestinal Disorders (TARGID), KU Leuven , Leuven , Belgium .|b Programa De Pós-Graduação: Ciências Em Gastroenterologia E Hepatologia, Faculdade De Medicina, UFRGS , Porto Alegre , Brazil , and.
authors.forename: Adriana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lauffer
authors.affiliation: a Translational Research Center for Gastrointestinal Disorders (TARGID), KU Leuven , Leuven , Belgium .
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Vanuytsel
authors.affiliation: a Translational Research Center for Gastrointestinal Disorders (TARGID), KU Leuven , Leuven , Belgium .
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vanormelingen
authors.affiliation: a Translational Research Center for Gastrointestinal Disorders (TARGID), KU Leuven , Leuven , Belgium .
authors.forename: Hanne
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Vanheel
authors.affiliation: a Translational Research Center for Gastrointestinal Disorders (TARGID), KU Leuven , Leuven , Belgium .
authors.forename: Shadea
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Salim Rasoel
authors.affiliation: a Translational Research Center for Gastrointestinal Disorders (TARGID), KU Leuven , Leuven , Belgium .
authors.forename: Joran
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tóth
authors.affiliation: a Translational Research Center for Gastrointestinal Disorders (TARGID), KU Leuven , Leuven , Belgium .
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tack
authors.affiliation: b Programa De Pós-Graduação: Ciências Em Gastroenterologia E Hepatologia, Faculdade De Medicina, UFRGS , Porto Alegre , Brazil , and.
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fornari
authors.affiliation: a Translational Research Center for Gastrointestinal Disorders (TARGID), KU Leuven , Leuven , Belgium .|c Centro De Investigación Biomédica En Red De Enfermedades Hepáticas Y Digestivas (CIBERehd), Instituto De Salud Carlos II , Barcelona , Spain.
authors.forename: Ricard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Farré
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003106:Colon / Q000378:metabolism*; D003345:Corticosterone / Q000097:blood; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D008407:Mast Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D062793:Occludin / Q000378:metabolism; D010539:Permeability; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000378:metabolism*; D019108:Tight Junctions / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D062793:Occludin; D003345:Corticosterone
keywords: Brain-gut axis; crowding stress; functional gastrointestinal disorders; intestinal permeability; mast cells; psychological stress