Age-related responses to mild restraint in the rat

Immature, postpubertal, young adult, and middle-aged rats were lightly restrained for 4 h. Relative to untreated controls, restraint uniformly reduced body weight and plasma luteinizing hormone concentration and elevated plasma corticosterone concentration in all age groups. However, restraint increased activities of plasma alanine and aspartate aminotransferase, creatine phosphokinase, and fructose-diphosphate aldolase in only immature and middle-aged animals. This age-related release of tissue enzymes is hypothesized to reflect enhanced responsiveness to catecholamines in immature rats, and possible ischemia related to diminished vasodilatory activity in middle-aged rats. On the basis of these changes, tolerance to restraint in postpubertal and young adults appears to be slightly greater than that of immature and middle-aged rats.