Effect of acute or repeated stress on behavior and brain norepinephrine system in Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats

WKY rats develop more restraint-induced gastric ulcers and exhibit more depressive behavior compared to other rat strains. Exposure to novel stressors for 21 days exacerbates depressive behavior in WKY rats and alters beta-adrenoceptors (beta-ARs) and norepinephrine transporter (NET) sites in several limbic brain regions when compared to Sprague-Dawley rats. The present study examined whether these effects would be elaborated following an acute stressor and whether WKY rats would demonstrate adaptation after repeated stress. Rats were subjected to a 2-h supine restraint stress for either one or eight consecutive daily sessions. Open-field behavioral data were collected immediately after the daily stress sessions. Brains were sectioned for autoradiographic analysis of 125I-pindolol binding to beta-ARs and 3H-nisoxetine binding to NET sites in discrete brain regions. Acute 1-day stress resulted in a significant drop in body weight and an inhibition of behaviors in the open field. These effects were also sustained following 7 days of chronic restraint stress. In contrast, while acute stress had no effect on NET binding sites or beta-ARs, repeated stress decreased NET sites in the amygdala, hypothalamus, and locus coeruleus with little effect on beta-ARs in the brain regions examined.