Department of Basic Psychological Processes and their Development, Basque Country University, San Sebastian 20018, Spain.
Behav Brain Res. 2011 Dec 1;225(2):554-61. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2011.08.011. Epub 2011 Aug 12.
Individual variation in behavioral coping strategies to stress implies that animals may have a distinct physiological adaptation to stress; these differences may underlie differences in vulnerability to stress-related diseases. This study was designed to test the hypothesis that different behavioral coping strategies (active vs. passive) are stable over time and that they would be associated with differences in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) and sympathetic-adreno-medular (SAM) axes, and monoaminergic and immune activity. Male mice were subjected to social stress. Twelve days after the first social interaction, mice were subjected to a second identical social stress interaction. Behavior was videotaped and assessed during both sessions. One hour after the final social interaction, serum was collected for corticosterone and adrenaline concentrations and brains were collected for hypothalamic corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH) mRNA expression. Monoaminergic system activity was determined by mRNA expression of serotonin, dopamine and noradrenaline synthetic enzymes in the brain stem. Immune system activity was determined by mRNA expression of hypothalamic interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and splenic IL-1β and interleukin-2 (IL-2). Mice engaging in a passive strategy had higher serum corticosterone and lower serum adrenaline concentrations than the active group. The passive group showed lower hypothalamic mRNA expression of IL-1β and CRH and lower splenic mRNA expression of IL-2 and IL-1β relative to mice in the active group. An active strategy was associated with higher expression of the dopaminergic synthetic enzyme, while a passive strategy was associated with decreased expression of the serotonergic synthetic enzyme. These findings indicate that individual coping strategies are stable over time and are related to differences in the physiological stress response and immune activity.
个体在应对压力的行为策略上的差异意味着动物可能对压力有独特的生理适应；这些差异可能是导致对与压力相关疾病易感性差异的基础。本研究旨在检验以下假设：不同的行为应对策略（主动与被动）是稳定的，并且它们与下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺（HPA）和交感神经-肾上腺髓质（SAM）轴以及单胺能和免疫活性的差异有关。雄性小鼠经受社会压力。在第一次社会互动 12 天后，小鼠再次经历相同的社会压力互动。在两次会议期间对行为进行录像和评估。在最后一次社会互动后 1 小时，收集血清以测定皮质酮和肾上腺素浓度，并收集大脑以测定下丘脑促肾上腺皮质激素释放激素（CRH）mRNA 表达。通过脑干中 5-羟色胺、多巴胺和去甲肾上腺素合成酶的 mRNA 表达来确定单胺能系统活性。通过下丘脑白细胞介素-1β（IL-1β）和脾脏白细胞介素-1β和白细胞介素-2（IL-2）的 mRNA 表达来确定免疫系统活性。采用被动策略的小鼠的血清皮质酮浓度较高，而血清肾上腺素浓度较低。与主动组相比，被动组下丘脑 IL-1β 和 CRH 的 mRNA 表达以及脾脏 IL-2 和 IL-1β 的 mRNA 表达较低。主动策略与多巴胺合成酶的高表达相关，而被动策略与 5-羟色胺合成酶的低表达相关。这些发现表明，个体应对策略是稳定的，并且与生理应激反应和免疫活性的差异有关。
