Effect of chronic stress on metabolic and hormonal markers in rats

• Grant number: 23/09271-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: August 01, 2023
• End date: March 16, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Physiology - Physiology of Organs and Systems
• Principal Investigator: Dulce Elena Casarini
• Grantee: Lucas Takeshi Amadeu Ogata
• Host Institution: Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 17/17027-0 - Hormonal systems in renal and cardiovascular diseases: from cell biology to new physiological paradigms with advances for therapeutics, AP.TEM

Abstract

Stress is one of the most significant health problems in modern society and can be defined as any disruption in homeostasis that requires an adaptive response. Due to the inherent limitations of research involving human subjects, animal models have been very useful in studying the physiological mechanisms underlying the deleterious effects triggered by stress. Although it is well established that rodents adapt to repetitive stressful stimuli, this adaptation does not occur in protocols of moderate and unpredictable chronic stress (MUCS). In this study, our aim was to investigate the impact of chronic stress on metabolic and hormonal markers in rats. Male Wistar rats (4 weeks old) will be used and divided into two experimental groups: Control (C) and MUCS (M). The experimental period will last for 7 weeks, and the MUCS protocol will be applied during weeks 3, 4, and 5. Corticosterone levels will be measured using a commercial kit. The levels of catecholamines (epinephrine, norepinephrine, and dopamine) will be determined in plasma using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Other markers will be assessed using colorimetric enzymatic kits on plasma aliquots. The data will be evaluated for normal distribution, and then analyzed using either Student's t-test or the Mann-Whitney test (p<0.05). The procedures have been approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of the Federal University of São Paulo - CEUA Process No. 9678230719.