Bardgett M E, Taylor G T, Csernansky J G, Newcomer J W, Nock B
Department of Psychology, University of Missouri-St. Louis 63121.
Behav Neural Biol. 1994 Mar;61(2):186-90. doi: 10.1016/s0163-1047(05)80074-3.
The present study used behavioral and morphological measures to assess hippocampal integrity in adult male rats after 8 weeks of daily corticosterone (10 mg/kg) injections. Behavioral testing during the final week of treatment revealed that spontaneous alternation behavior, a behavioral marker of hippocampal damage, was reduced in experimental animals without influencing exploration. Physiological assessment indicated that steroid exposure produced functional changes characteristic of prolonged exposure to stress or elevated plasma corticosterone, i.e., lower body weight and thymic involution. However, hippocampal cell loss was not observed in experimental rats. The data suggest that prolonged elevation of plasma corticosterone may significantly disrupt a hippocampal-sensitive behavior without producing gross morphological changes.
本研究采用行为学和形态学方法，对成年雄性大鼠每日注射皮质酮（10毫克/千克），持续8周后评估其海马体完整性。治疗最后一周的行为测试显示，作为海马体损伤行为标志物的自发交替行为，在实验动物中减少，但不影响探索行为。生理学评估表明，类固醇暴露产生了长期暴露于应激或血浆皮质酮升高所特有的功能变化，即体重减轻和胸腺萎缩。然而，在实验大鼠中未观察到海马体细胞丢失。数据表明，血浆皮质酮的长期升高可能会显著扰乱海马体敏感行为，而不会产生明显的形态学变化。
