Effects of chronic stress on plasma corticosterone, ACTH and prolactin

Rats were placed in a stressful environment for 24 hr per day and levels of plasma hormones were measured after varying numbers of days in the environment. Rats were habituated to operant chambers placed in sound-attenuated enclosures. Food pellets were available by lever press on a FR1 schedule. After 3 days of habituation, rats in the “stressed” group were trained to pull a ceiling chain to avoid or escape shock. Following training, stress trials, consisting of a consecutive sequence of 5 sec each of a warning light, warning tone and 0.16, 0.32, 0.65, 1.3 and 2.6 mA of footshock, occurred approximately once per 5 min around-the-clock. For the first day, the sequence was terminated when the ceiling chain was pulled. On subsequent days, 90% of all shock presentations could be avoided or escaped by chain pull; the remaining 10% of trials were inescapable and the entire sequence was presented. Control rats lived in identical chambers without presentation of shock. Rats were sacrificed after 1, 2, 3, 4, 7 or 14 days in this environment and levels of plasma corticosterone, ACTH and prolactin were determined. Levels of plasma corticosterone were elevated during the first 7 days in the stressful environment, but returned to control values by day 14. Levels of plasma ACTH and prolactin were similar in stressed and control rats at all time points measured. These data suggest that stress-induced changes in glucocorticoids but not in ACTH or prolactin might mediate some of the physiological changes that occur as the result of chronic stress.