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Updated: Aug 20, 2026
Social Isolation Model: A Noninvasive Rodent Model of Stress and Anxiety
Published on: November 11, 2022
Social isolation stress exacerbates autoimmune disease in MRL/lpr mice
Yoichi Chida1, Nobuyuki Sudo, Chiharu Kubo
1Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 812-8582, Japan. chidayo@cephal.med.kyushu-u.ac.jp
Abstract:
The potential physiological mechanisms explaining an influence of psychosocial stress on autoimmune diseases remain undetermined. Exposure of chronic social isolation stress to MRL/lpr mice significantly enhanced the degree of proteinuria after 20 weeks of age and reduced the survival rate. The serum anti-dsDNA IgG2a levels were increased significantly by stress at 19 weeks of age, which was simultaneously accompanied by inhibition of the serum corticosterone elevation. Furthermore, stress caused increased IFN-gamma production from anti-CD3-stimulated splenic mononuclear cells, whereas IL-4 and IL-10 production decreased. These results indicated that isolation stress exacerbated autoimmune disease in MRL/lpr mice, the possible mechanism for which might be related to stress-induced dysregulation of Th1/Th2 balance and inhibition of the blood corticosterone response to inflammatory stimuli.
