Figure 2.

SCI in female and male rats disrupts diurnal rhythms in CORT. A, Before surgery, female and male rats exhibited diurnal rhythms in CORT, with nadir levels at the beginning of the inactive (light) phase and peak levels toward the beginning of the active (dark) phase. B, SCI increased CORT levels and altered CORT rhythms at 2 and 7 dpi; CORT rhythms were normalized by 14 dpi. C, Average CORT level across the day in female and male SCI rats was increased at 2 dpi. *ZT differences or SCI vs presurgery, ANOVA with Holm–Sidak post hoc test, p < 0.05; †SCI vs sham at that time point, p < 0.05.