Figure 2.

Stress‐induced effects on rat weight, body composition, and fat depot size. Male rats were weight matched and placed in two groups (n =6/group). The CUS group was subjected to different combinations of stressors for 35 days while the control group was caged under normal conditions. (A) Weight comparison between stressed and control rats before and after treatment shows that while animals in the control group gain weight after 35 days, the weight of rats in the chronic stress group remains unaffected after completion of the stress protocol. (B) However, stressed rats gain significantly more total body fat in comparison to their control littermates. (C) The lack of total weight gain in the stressed rats is due to the reduction in total lean mass in these animals in contrast to the control rats that also show increases in lean mass as in fat mass before. (D) EchoMRI analysis demonstrates that, in rats, % fat mass increases considerably (~6%) relative to the rest of body mass after stress (E) while% lean mass decreases (~4.5%). (F) Comparison of lean and mesenteric fat mass of the intestine between stressed and control rats shows that the former have higher fat mass weight while no significant difference exists in lean intestinal mass between the two groups. (G) Stressed rats also have increased epididymal fat pad weights compared to control rats after 35 days of stress. Data are means ± SEM (Mann–Whitney, *P <0.05, **P <0.01, *** and ^###P <0.001, n =6 in four independent studies).