Sadia Moazzam, Mazhar Hussain, Aysha Babar.
Response of hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis and immune system to chronic restraint stress in male sprague dawley rats.
Pak J Physiol Jan ;9(1):29-31.

Background: During stress, hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis (HPA) is activated as an adaptive ‘fight or flight’ response in order to maintain homeostasis of body function and alter immune response. Method: This study was conducted at National Institute of Health (NIH) Islamabad. Sixty healthy male Sprague Dawley rats (age=65±5 days; weight=250±50 gm) were obtained from NIH. Rats were divided into two groups, each having 30 rats. The rats of group I were not exposed to chronic restraint stress, while rats of group II were exposed to chronic restraint stress in mesh-wire restrainer for 6 hours daily for 15 days. The total leukocyte (TLC) and lymphocyte count, serum cortisol level and immunoglobulins (IgG, IgA, IgM and IgE) levels were estimated for comparison between the two groups. Results: Serum cortisol levels were found significantly (p˂0.001) raised in rats exposed to chronic restraint stress. TLC, Lymphocyte count and serum IgA, IgE, IgG and IgM levels significantly (p˂0.001) decreased in rats exposed to chronic restraint stress as compared to the rats which were not exposed to stress. Conclusion: Chronic restraint stress compromises immune status by decreasing the levels of immunoglobulins and lymphocyte count with concomitant increase in serum cortisol.

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