In view of mounting evidence that the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) is directly involved in the setting of sensitivity of the adrenal cortex to ACTH, the present study investigated possible anatomical and functional connections between SCN and adrenal. Transneuronal virus tracing from the adrenal revealed first order labelling in neurons in the intermedio-lateral column of the spinal cord that were shown to receive an input from oxytocin fibres and subsequently second-order labelling in neurons of the autonomic division of the paraventricular nucleus. The latter neurons were shown to receive an input from vasopressin or vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) containing SCN efferents. The true character of this SCN input to second-order neurons was also demonstrated by the fact that third-order labelling was present within the SCN, vasopressin or VIP neurons. The functional presence of the SCN-adrenal connection was demonstrated by a light-induced fast decrease in plasma corticosterone that could not be attributed to a decrease in ACTH. Using intact and SCN-lesioned animals, the immediate decrease in plasma corticosterone was only observed in intact animals and only at the beginning of the dark period. This fast decrease of corticosterone was accompanied by constant basal levels of blood adrenaline and noradrenaline, and is proposed to be due to a direct inhibition of the neuronal output to the adrenal cortex by light-mediated activation of SCN neurons. As a consequence, it is proposed that the SCN utilizes neuronal pathways to spread its time of the day message, not only to the pineal, but also to other organs, including the adrenal, utilizing the autonomic nervous system.

Stress plays an important role in the development of affective disorders. Women show a higher prevalence for these disorders than men. The course of a depression is thought to be positively influenced by social support. We have used a chronic stress model in which rats received foot-shocks daily for 3 weeks. Since rats are social animals we hypothesised that 'social support' might reduce the adverse effects of chronic stress. To test this hypothesis, male and female rats were housed individually or socially in unisex groups of four rats. The proliferation marker bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) was injected 2 weeks before the sacrifice to investigate if stress and social housing influenced the survival of proliferating cells in the dentate gyrus (DG). To investigate changes in proliferation, another group of rats was sacrificed the day after the last BrdU injection. Stress significantly decreased BrdU labelling in individually housed males and not significantly in socially housed males. In individually housed females stress increased BrdU labelling, which was prevented by social housing. The increase found in females is most likely caused by differences in survival rate, since cell proliferation was not affected by stress or housing conditions. These results indicate that social support can affect neurogenesis in both female and male rats, however in a different way.

No abstract

clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01217307.