Long term modulation of the HPA axis by the hippocampus: Behavioral, biochemical and immunological endpoints in rats exposed to chronic mild stress

• Published in: Psychoneuroendocrinology Vol. 26; no. 2; pp. 121 - 145
• Main Authors: Bratt, A.M, Kelley, S.P, Knowles, J.P, Barrett, J, Davis, K, Davis, M, Mittleman, G
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.02.2001; Elsevier
• Subjects: Amphetamine; Anatomical correlates of behavior; Animals; Arousal - physiology; Behavioral psychophysiology; Biological and medical sciences; Blood Glucose - metabolism; Circadian Rhythm - physiology; Corticosterone; Corticosterone - blood; Fimbria-fornix; Fornix, Brain - pathology; Fornix, Brain - physiology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Hippocampus; Hippocampus - pathology; Hippocampus - physiopathology; Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System - pathology; Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System - physiopathology; Immune Tolerance - physiology; Locomotion; Lymphocyte Count; Male; Metryapone; Motor Activity - physiology; Pituitary-Adrenal System - pathology; Pituitary-Adrenal System - physiopathology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Rats; Rats, Long-Evans; Spleen - pathology; Stress, Psychological - complications; Subiculum; Thymus Gland - pathology; Locomotion; Amphetamine; Corticosterone; Subiculum; Fimbria-fornix; Hippocampus; Metryapone; Affect affectivity; Rat; Hypothalamohypophysoadrenal axis; Rodentia; Central nervous system; Biological rhythm; Circadian rhythm; Glucocorticoid; Vertebrata; Animal activity; Mammalia; Spontaneous physical activity; Investigation method; Animal; Adrenal hormone; Anxiety; Inhibitor; Lesion; Brain (vertebrata)
• ISSN: 0306-4530; 1873-3360
• DOI: 10.1016/S0306-4530(00)00033-0

Mature rats were given lesions of the hippocampus (HIPPO), subiculum (SUBIC) or fimbria-fornix (FIFO) and then received the mild chronic stressors of food deprivation and isolation housing for ten months prior to testing. Group differences in circadian activity were investigated along with locomotion elicited by amphetamine (AMP 1.0–2.0 mg/kg i.p.) alone, and following the corticosterone (CORT) synthesis inhibitor, metyrapone (MET 10.0–25.0 mg/kg i.p.). Basal levels of plasma CORT, (ng/ml), plasma glucose (GLUC, mmol/l), thymic and splenic wet weights were subsequently determined along with complete blood counts (CBC). In comparison to age matched, unoperated controls, selective SUBIC lesions altered the circadian periodicity of locomotion, while rats with FIFO lesions were spontaneously hyperactive. Both HIPPO and FIFO animals showed significantly higher levels of amphetamine-induced locomotion. In all groups metyrapone significantly enhanced locomotion elicited by amphetamine, probably due to a pharmacokinetic interaction between these drugs. In comparison to controls, animals in the HIPPO group showed significant reductions in plasma glucose levels, decreased thymic wet weights and reductions in lymphocyte numbers, indicating lesion-related immuno-suppression. These findings highlight a functional difference among the effects of these specific hippocampal lesions on neural regulation of the HPA axis, under conditions of chronic mild stress, suggesting that the modulatory influence of the hippocampus on the stress axis is dependent on the neuroanatomical location and total extent of cell loss within this structure. They further suggest that the heightened response to amphetamine occurs independently of any lesion-induced changes in modulation of the HPA axis.