Plasma corticosterone levels during repeated presentation of two intensities of restraint stress: chronic stress and habituation
Abstract
This study measured plasma corticosterone levels in male rats during repeated daily presentations of two intensities of restraint stress. The corticosterone response to a stress session was defined as the change from pre-stress levels to levels after 60 minutes of restraint. With the relatively intense stress imposed by four limb prone restraint, the corticosterone response partially habituated over seven days due to increasing basal corticosterone levels. However, even on day 7, there was still a large corticosterone response. With the milder stress of immobilization in a tube, the corticosterone response did not habituate at all over 21 days of repeated stress despite rising basal levels. Stress levels of corticosterone did not show significant change over days in either of the two restraint groups. Further, rising basal corticosterone levels suggest that repeated restraint produced a chronic stress state in these rats which may vary in some qualitative way with stressor intensity. Control rats placed in the same room as the stressed rats during the two stresses initially had increased corticosterone levels that matched the levels achieved in the stressed rats. The responses in control rats for the intense stress did not habituate completely in 7 days, whereas those in the control rats for the mild stress habituated completely within 3 days. These data suggest intraspecific communication of the intensity of stress.
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Procedural acclimatisation immediately before a procedure allows stabilisation of the animals' responses after unaccustomed handling, novel environments, and previous procedures, which otherwise can induce behavioural and physiological changes.
“Procedural acclimatisation immediately before a procedure allows stabilisation of the animals’ responses after unaccustomed handling, novel environments, and previous procedures, which otherwise can induce behavioural and physiological changes [140,141].”
From Reporting animal research: Explanation and elaboration for the ARRIVE guidelines 2.0 (2020) · cites this paper as [141]
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- Authors
- Pitman, D. L., Ottenweller, J. E., & Natelson, B. H.
- Affiliations
- Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (US)
- East Orange VA Medical Center (US)
- Corresponding author
- Natelson, Benjamin H.
- Venue
- Physiology & Behavior
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 1988-01
- Volume
- 43
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 47-55
- ISSN
- 0031-9384 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1981518603
- Cited by
- 295
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 18 · 2015: 11 · 2014: 15 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 12
- FWCI
- 4.29
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Physiology & Behavior (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
- Health Sciences › Veterinary › Small Animals › Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Adrenal Hormones and Disorders
- Keywords
- corticosterone, restraint stress, stress habituation, chronic stress, stressor intensity, intraspecific communication, rats
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Arousal, Association Learning, Corticosterone, Habituation, Psychophysiologic, Male, Rats, Inbred Strains, Social Environment, Rats
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