Boersma Gretha J, Smeltzer Michael D, Scott Karen A, Scheurink Anton J, Tamashiro Kellie L, Sakai Randall R
Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Baltimore, MD, USA.
University of Cincinnati Medical Center, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, Cincinnati, OH, USA.
Physiol Behav. 2017 Sep 1;178:126-133. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2016.12.041. Epub 2017 Jan 6.
Chronic stress exposure may have negative consequences for health. One of the most common sources of chronic stress is stress associated with social interaction. In rodents, the effects of social stress can be studied in a naturalistic way using the visual burrow system (VBS). The way an individual copes with stress, their "stress coping style", may influence the consequences of social stress. In the current study we tested the hypothesis that stress coping style may modulate social status and influence the consequences of having a lower social status. We formed 7 VBS colonies, with 1 proactive coping male, 1 passive coping male, and 4 female rats per colony to assess whether a rat's coping style prior to colony formation could predict whether that individual is more likely to become socially dominant. The rats remained in their respective colonies for 14days and the physiological and behavioral consequences of social stress were assessed. Our study shows that stress coping style does not predict social status. However, stress coping style may influence the consequences of having a lower social status. Subordinate passive and proactive rats had distinctly different wound patterns; proactive rats had more wounds on the front of their bodies. Behavioral analysis confirmed that proactive subordinate rats engaged in more offensive interactions. Furthermore, subordinate rats with a proactive stress coping style had larger adrenals, and increased stress responsivity to a novel acute stressor (restraint stress) compared to passive subordinate rats or dominant rats, suggesting that the allostatic load may have been larger in this group.
长期暴露于压力之下可能会对健康产生负面影响。慢性压力最常见的来源之一是与社交互动相关的压力。在啮齿动物中，可以使用可视洞穴系统（VBS）以自然主义的方式研究社交压力的影响。个体应对压力的方式，即他们的“压力应对风格”，可能会影响社交压力的后果。在当前的研究中，我们检验了这样一个假设：压力应对风格可能会调节社会地位，并影响较低社会地位所带来的后果。我们组建了7个VBS群落，每个群落中有1只主动应对型雄性大鼠、1只被动应对型雄性大鼠和4只雌性大鼠，以评估在群落形成之前大鼠的应对风格是否能够预测该个体更有可能成为社会主导者。大鼠在各自的群落中饲养14天，并评估社交压力的生理和行为后果。我们的研究表明，压力应对风格并不能预测社会地位。然而，压力应对风格可能会影响较低社会地位所带来的后果。从属的被动型和主动型大鼠有明显不同的伤口模式；主动型大鼠身体前部的伤口更多。行为分析证实，主动型从属大鼠参与了更多的攻击性互动。此外，与被动型从属大鼠或主导型大鼠相比，具有主动型压力应对风格的从属大鼠肾上腺更大，对新的急性应激源（束缚应激）的应激反应性增加，这表明该组的应激负荷可能更大。
