The effects of stress on lipoproteins and catecholamines in rats

In order to investigate the effects of transportation stress on metabolic activities, we measured the changes in plasma lipoprotein and catecholamine levels in those rats that had just arrived in our Animal Facility and age-matched rats which had acclimatized in the Facility for at least 21 days. The acclimatized rats were considered as control, and the values from the newly arrived rats was done within 4-6 days of their arrival in the Facility. The cholesterol levels in very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) were higher (71-84%) than the control levels. Also, the stressed animals had higher levels of norepinephrine (4.5-fold) and epinephrine (3-fold) than the control levels. However, dopamine levels was 34-fold lower than that of control. On the basis of the data, we concluded that the change in plasma levels of lipoprotein and catecholamines in response to the transportation stress is significant and may require at least three weeks after the transportation to establish a stable baseline for investigations in which the plasma levels of lipoproteins and catecholamines is a critical factor.