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. 2010 Aug 6;26(4):297–303. doi: 10.1007/s12264-010-0329-1

Increased expression level of corticotropin-releasing hormone in the amygdala and in the hypothalamus in rats exposed to chronic unpredictable mild stress

在慢性不可预见性温和应激下大鼠下丘脑和杏仁核中促肾上腺皮质素释放激素表达增高

Shan-Shan Wang 1,2, Xue-Bo Yan 2, Michel A Hofman 3, Dick F Swaab 3, Jiang-Ning Zhou 2,✉
PMCID: PMC5552574  PMID: 20651811

Abstract

Objective

Corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) plays an important role in neuroendocrine, autonomic and behavioral responses to stressors. In the present study, the effect of chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) on CRH neurons was investigated in rat brain.

Methods

The rats were exposed to one of the stressors each day for 21 d. Immunostaining was performed to detect the CRH-positive neurons in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of the hypothalamus and in amygdala.

Results

After the stress protocol, the animals showed a reduction in body weight gain as well as reduced sucrose preference and locomotor activity. Interestingly, the CRH neurons in both PVN and central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA) were stimulated by CUMS. The densities of CRH-containing neurons in both PVN and CeA were significantly higher than those in control group.

Conclusion

The CRH systems in PVN and CeA may both contribute to depression-like behaviors during CUMS.

Keywords: chronic unpredictable mild stress, hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis, corticotropin-releasing hormone, amygdala, paraventricular nucleus

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