Nelson L R, Taylor A N, Lewis J W, Poland R E, Redei E, Branch B J
Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 1986 Aug;10(4):397-402. doi: 10.1111/j.1530-0277.1986.tb05112.x.
The effect of prenatal ethanol exposure on pituitary-adrenal function in adult offspring was assessed by measuring corticosterone (CS) levels in plasma following exposure to two forms of footshock stress, intermittent and continuous, and after administration of 20 mg/kg of morphine. The footshock experiments were conducted at two time points in the circadian pituitary-adrenal cycle. Prenatally ethanol-exposed (E) rats had higher levels of CS than pair-fed and normal controls following intermittent footshock when tested at the crest of the CS circadian rhythm. However, this difference was not present when intermittent footshock was presented at the trough of the circadian cycle. At either time of day, there were no differences among the prenatal treatment groups in the basal condition or following continuous footshock. In addition, E rats had significantly higher levels of plasma CS than controls following morphine. Plasma adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) levels were measured after intermittent footshock at the crest of the circadian rhythm and were significantly higher in E rats than in controls. These results extend our previous reports of enhanced activation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis in response to other stressors as well as to ethanol in adult rats exposed to ethanol in utero. They also confirm that E rats are differentially hyperresponsive only to intermittent footshock stress, not to continuous footshock, as we had found to be the case when the analgesia induced by these two stressors was the dependent measure.
通过测量成年后代在暴露于两种形式的足部电击应激（间歇性和持续性）后以及给予20mg/kg吗啡后的血浆皮质酮（CS）水平，评估产前乙醇暴露对成年后代垂体 - 肾上腺功能的影响。足部电击实验在昼夜垂体 - 肾上腺周期的两个时间点进行。当在CS昼夜节律的峰值进行测试时，产前暴露于乙醇（E）的大鼠在间歇性足部电击后，其CS水平高于配对喂养和正常对照的大鼠。然而，当在昼夜周期的低谷进行间歇性足部电击时，这种差异不存在。在一天中的任何时间，产前处理组在基础条件下或持续性足部电击后均无差异。此外，E组大鼠在给予吗啡后血浆CS水平显著高于对照组。在昼夜节律的峰值进行间歇性足部电击后测量血浆促肾上腺皮质激素（ACTH）水平，E组大鼠的ACTH水平显著高于对照组。这些结果扩展了我们之前的报道，即暴露于子宫内乙醇的成年大鼠下丘脑 - 垂体 - 肾上腺轴对其他应激源以及乙醇的激活增强。它们还证实，正如我们发现以这两种应激源诱导的镇痛作为相关指标时的情况一样，E组大鼠仅对间歇性足部电击应激有不同的高反应性，而对持续性足部电击没有。
