[Reactivity of the hypothalamo-hypophyseal-adrenal complex of adult rats after the administration of hydrocortisone to their mothers during pregnancy].

The effect of single and repeated injection of hydrocortisone to rats during the last week of pregnancy on the reactivity of the hypothalamic-hypophysial-suprarenal complex of their adult descendants was studied. The reaction of hypophysial-suprarenal system of the adult rats to an amotional stressor and injection of norepinephrine in the brain lateral vesicle was shown to decrease. Under similar experimental conditions the reaction to ether and combined stressors, as well as to intraventricular injection of 5-HT or carbocholine resembled that in the control animals. It is suggested that hydrocortisone injected during the prenatal period exerts, to a certain extent, the selective influence on the central adrenergic mechanisms the changes in which may serve as one of the causes of decrease in emotional reactivity of adult animals.