[Sexual dimorphism in reactions to stress during regular and altered photoperiods]

Sexual dimorphism of rats in response to physiological stress influences was discovered. The emotional stress in female animals caused a sharp intensification of synthesis and corticosterone secretion, while in males there was an increase only in hormone synthesis and not its secretion. Females are more sensitive even to short-term changes in photoperiod. Stress reaction in females under conditions of three-day light depressed sharply and increased under conditions of three-day darkness. Stress reaction in males did not change under these conditions. The reactivity of adaptation system in females shortens the period of adaptation to the altered illumination regimen, which is manifested in the restoration of typical stress reactions. In males, refractoriness to weak stress influences lengthens the period of adaptation, which is manifested in the suppression of typical stress reaction observed in males.