[Physical endurance in rats exposed prenatally to stress of exogenous glucocorticoids]

Gender- and age-related peculiarities of the influence of prenatal stress or exogenous glucocorticoids on physical endurance in rats were found in the experiments using fatigue test. Normal adult females were of greater endurance than males. Prenatal stress resulted in increased physical fatigue mainly in females while sexual differences were reversed. Hydrocortisone acetate administration to pregnant rats prevented sexual dimorphism in physical fatigue development in adult animals due to increase of physical endurance in males and its decrease in females. In aging rats disappearance of both sexual differences and prenatal stress effects took place against a background of fast physical fatigue development.