Corticosterone, novelty-induced hyperglycemia, and chlordiazepoxide

Rats moved to novel environments for a 20 minute period showed increased plasma corticosterone levels--the greater the difference between the housing context and the novel environment, the greater the increase in corticosterone. Plasma glucose levels (PGL) also increased with increasing environmental novelty and these PGL changes were moderated by pretreatment with chlordiazepoxide (10 mg/kg). The increases in corticosterone and PGL were greater in a context previously shown to lead to hyperglycemic conditioning following insulin administration than in a context previously shown to lead to hypoglycemic conditioning. These results imply that the directionality of glycemic conditioning may be related to the initial stressfulness of the conditioning environment.