Pubertal shifts in adrenal responsiveness to stress and adrenocorticotropic hormone in male rats

Russell D Romeo; Sumeet Minhas; Sarah E Svirsky; Baila S Hall; Marina Savenkova; Ilia N Karatsoreos

doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2014.01.016

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Pubertal shifts in adrenal responsiveness to stress and adrenocorticotropic hormone in male rats

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Pubertal shifts in adrenal responsiveness to stress and adrenocorticotropic hormone in male rats

Russell D Romeo, Sumeet Minhas, Sarah E Svirsky, Baila S Hall, Marina Savenkova and Ilia N Karatsoreos

Psychoneuroendocrinology, Vol.42, pp.146-152

04/2014

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2014.01.016

Handle:

https://hdl.handle.net/2376/107953

PMCID: PMC3959666

PMID: 24636511

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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2014.01.016View

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Abstract

Stress, Physiological - physiology

Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System - drug effects

Pituitary-Adrenal System - physiopathology

Pituitary-Adrenal System - drug effects

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone - pharmacology

Rats

Male

Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Animals

Adrenal Glands - physiopathology

Restraint, Physical

Corticosterone - blood

Adrenal Glands - drug effects

Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System - physiopathology

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone - blood

Stress, Psychological - physiopathology

Studies have indicated significant pubertal-related differences in hormonal stress reactivity. We report here that prepubertal (30 days) male rats display a more protracted stress-induced corticosterone response than adults (70 days), despite showing relatively similar levels of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). Additionally, we show that adrenal expression of the ACTH receptor, melanocortin 2 receptor (Mc2r), is higher in prepubertal compared to adult animals, and that expression of melanocortin receptor accessory protein (Mrap), a molecule that chaperones MC2R to the cell surface, is greater in prepubertal males following stress. Given that these data suggest a pubertal shift in adrenal sensitivity to ACTH, we directly tested this possibility by injecting prepubertal and adult males with 6.25 or 9.375μg/kg of exogenous rat ACTH and measured their hormone levels 30 and 60min post-injection. As these doses resulted in different circulating levels of ACTH at these two ages, we performed regression analyses to assess the relationship between circulating ACTH and corticosterone concentrations. We found no difference between the ages in the correlation between ACTH and corticosterone levels at the 30min time point. However, 60min following the ACTH injection, we found prepubertal rats had significantly higher corticosterone concentrations at lower levels of ACTH compared to adults. These data suggest that prolonged exposure to ACTH leads to greater corticosterone responsiveness prior to puberty, and indicate that changes in adrenal sensitivity to ACTH may, in part, contribute to the protracted hormonal stress response in prepubertal rats.

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Title: Pubertal shifts in adrenal responsiveness to stress and adrenocorticotropic hormone in male rats
Creators: Russell D Romeo - Department of Psychology and Neuroscience and Behavior Program, Barnard College of Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA. Electronic address: rromeo@barnard.edu
Sumeet Minhas - Department of Psychology and Neuroscience and Behavior Program, Barnard College of Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA
Sarah E Svirsky - Department of Psychology and Neuroscience and Behavior Program, Barnard College of Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA
Baila S Hall - Department of Psychology and Neuroscience and Behavior Program, Barnard College of Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA
Marina Savenkova - Department of Integrative Physiology and Neuroscience, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, USA
Ilia N Karatsoreos - Department of Integrative Physiology and Neuroscience, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, USA
Publication Details: Psychoneuroendocrinology, Vol.42, pp.146-152
Academic Unit: Integrative Physiology and Neuroscience, Department of
Publisher: England
Grant note: R03 MH090224 / NIMH NIH HHS MH-090224 / NIMH NIH HHS
Identifiers: 99900547164001842
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article