Acute and repeated exposure to social conflict in male golden hamsters: Increases in plasma POMC-peptides and cortisol and decreases in plasma testosterone

Huhman, Kim L.; Moore, Timothy O.; Ferris, Craig F.; Mougey, Edward H.; Meyerhoff, James L.

doi:10.1016/0018-506x(91)90051-i

Cited by 138 publications

(73 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Social subjugation can alter circulating levels of steroid hormones and many of the neurotransmitter systems in the central nervous system including vasopressin and 5-HT (Bronson & Eleftheriou, 1964;Rose et al 1975;Eberhart et al 1980Eberhart et al , 1983Yodyingyuad et al 1985;Ferris et al 1989;Huhman et al 1991;McKittrick et al 1995). Studies on adult male hamsters show depressed concentrations of testosterone and elevated concentrations of glucocorticoids following repeated defeat by dominant conspecifics (Huhman et al 199 1).…”

Section: Social Subjugation In Adult Animalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adolescent stress and neural plasticity in hamsters: a vasopressin‐serotonin model of inappropriate aggressive behaviour

Ferris

2000

Experimental Physiology

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Animal studies show that arginine vasopressin facilitates aggression, while serotonin (5-HT) inhibits aggression by blocking the activity of the vasopressin system. Clinical studies report that subjects with a history of 'fighting and assault' show a significant positive correlation between cerebrospinal fluid concentrations of vasopressin and aggression in the presence of a hyporeactive 5-HT system. Thus, in animals and humans, a hyporeactive 5-HT system may result in enhanced vasopressin activity and increased aggression. Can the stress of emotional and physical insult, i.e. threat and attack, during adolescence affect the development of the vasopressin and 5-HT systems and alter normal aggressive behaviour in early adulthood? Adolescent male golden hamsters were weaned at postnatal day 25, and stressed for 2 weeks by daily 1 h bouts of threat and attack by adult hamsters. Male littermates were run in a parallel stress study using daily 1 h trials of isolation in a novel environment. During early adulthood, on postnatal day 45, 3 days after the cessation of stress trials, animals were tested for aggression in a resident : intruder model. The results show a context-dependent change in aggression. Animals with a history of abuse show exaggerated attack behaviour toward smaller males compared to littermates with a history of isolation stress. Conversely, when confronted by males of equal size, animals with a history of abuse show diminished aggression and increased submission compared to controls. It was determined that the density of vasopressin fibres and neurones in the hypothalamus is lower in abused animals compared to controls. In contrast, the number of 5-HT terminals within the hypothalamus is higher in abused animals compared to controls. These results provide evidence in an animal model that stress in the form of threat and attack during adolescence can alter the balance between vasopressin and 5-HT in the brain, resulting in inappropriate aggressive behaviour in early adulthood. Experimental Physiology (2000) 85S,

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Section: Social Subjugation In Adult Animalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adolescent stress and neural plasticity in hamsters: a vasopressin‐serotonin model of inappropriate aggressive behaviour

Ferris

2000

Experimental Physiology

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“…After an acute agonistic encounter, the subordinate or socially defeated male hamster shows increased secretion of adrenocorticotropin, ␤-endorphin, cortisol, and corticosterone, whereas the dominant male does not (Huhman et al, 1990(Huhman et al, , 1991. These findings suggest that "losing" an agonistic encounter is stressful, whereas the act of aggression may be less so.…”

mentioning

confidence: 93%

“…In hamsters, comparison of the number of Fos-immunoreactive neurons in dominant and subordinate males revealed no significance differences (Kollack-Walker and Newman, 1995). However, detection of significant differences in glucocorticoid secretion between dominant and subordinate male hamsters is dependent on the use of procedures that habituate males to handling and to exposure to novel environments (Huhman et al, 1991). These procedures were not incorporated into the study on Fos immunostaining patterns after fighting.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Stress in Hamsters: Defeat Activates Specific Neurocircuits within the Brain

1997

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During an agonistic encounter, subordinate male hamsters display defensive and submissive postures and show increased secretion of glucocorticoids, whereas dominant males do not. To determine whether specific neuronal pathways are activated during the behavioral and neuroendocrine responses of subordinate males, expression of c-fos mRNA within the brains of subordinate males was compared with the pattern in dominant males after fighting. After 1 week of handling, pairs of hamsters were either swapped between cages (handled control males), or were allowed to interact for 30 min [dominant (DOM) males and subordinate (SUB) males]. A second group of control animals that received no handling or social stimulation (unhandled control males) were also included. After testing, all animals were killed by decapitation, their brains were removed for c-fos in situ hybridization, and trunk blood was collected for analysis of plasma cortisol and corticosterone levels. Exposure of males to their partner's cage for 30 min resulted in increased expression of c-fos mRNA in multiple brain regions. In addition, fighting increased c-fos expression in the medial amygdaloid nucleus of both DOM and SUB males as well as having more selective effects. In DOM males, c-fos expression was elevated within the supraoptic nucleus of the hypothalamus. In SUB males, c-fos expression increased within a multitude of brain areas, including cingulate cortex, lateral septum, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, medial preoptic area, several hypothalamic nuclei, central amygdaloid nucleus, amygdalohippocampal area, dorsal periaqueductal gray, dorsal raphe, cuneiform nucleus, and locus coeruleus. These findings are discussed in relation to neurocircuits associated with behavioral arousal and stress.

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“…In many species, including rats (2,8,17), hamsters (25), monkeys (54,56), and humans (12,18), dominant males have higher testosterone levels. Although the relationship between testosterone levels and dominance is not as clear in mice (3,19,24,58), dominant male mice have been reported to have higher androgen levels than subordinates (35,36,39).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…High individual variability in androgen levels in mice (4,35), strain differences in androgen levels, and the single time point collection of plasma in most mouse studies may contribute to the inconsistencies observed in testosterone levels in mice. Other physiological consequences of SD, including activation of the autonomic nervous system, alteration in circadian rhythms, and stress-induced release of neurohormones including corticosterone, ß-endorphin, and norepinephrine (6,25,30,31,33) might contribute to stressinduced inhibition of territorial marking, possibly independent of circulating levels of testosterone.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stress-Induced Neurodegeneration: Mechanisms and Interventions

Meyerhoff¹

2000

PsycEXTRA Dataset

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Acute and repeated exposure to social conflict in male golden hamsters: Increases in plasma POMC-peptides and cortisol and decreases in plasma testosterone

Cited by 138 publications

References 24 publications

Adolescent stress and neural plasticity in hamsters: a vasopressin‐serotonin model of inappropriate aggressive behaviour

Adolescent stress and neural plasticity in hamsters: a vasopressin‐serotonin model of inappropriate aggressive behaviour

Social Stress in Hamsters: Defeat Activates Specific Neurocircuits within the Brain

Stress-Induced Neurodegeneration: Mechanisms and Interventions

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