van Meeteren N L, Brakkee J H, Helders P J, Wiegant V M, Gispen W H
Faculty of Medicine, Rudolf Magnus Institute for Neurosciences of the Utrecht University, The Netherlands.
J Neurosci Res. 1997 Jun 15;48(6):524-32.
The aim of the present study was to monitor the influence of chronic stress on functional recovery from a sciatic nerve crush lesion in the rat. Male Wistar rats underwent standard unilateral sciatic nerve crush. Subsequently, chronic stress was induced during the recovery phase using a daily 30 min shock box session where rats received three electric footshocks each session (0.5 sec, 1 mA). Reduced body weight gain, adrenal gland hypertrophy, and thymus involution indicated that the stress rats were chronically stressed. Evaluation of sensorimotor function revealed significant differences in recovery between control and stress groups. Correlational analysis of individual stress rats indicated that recovery of the walking pattern was negatively correlated with adrenal gland and medulla enlargement, thymus involution, and plasma levels of adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) and corticosterone 45 min following the final stress session. In control rats, the index of sciatic nerve function (SF index, expressed as the difference between the injured paw and the intact contralateral paw as a percentage) was significantly correlated with adrenal medulla weight only. The present study reveals that chronic intermittent footshock stress impedes sensorimotor recovery following a sciatic nerve crush lesion and that the consequences of chronic intermittent stress are individually determined. We suggest that the quality of functional locomotor recovery after nerve crush lesion is related to the adaptive capacity or coping style of the individual rat.
本研究的目的是监测慢性应激对大鼠坐骨神经挤压损伤功能恢复的影响。雄性Wistar大鼠接受标准的单侧坐骨神经挤压。随后，在恢复阶段通过每天30分钟的电击箱实验诱导慢性应激，在此实验中大鼠每次实验接受三次足部电击（0.5秒，1毫安）。体重增加减少、肾上腺肥大和胸腺退化表明应激大鼠处于慢性应激状态。感觉运动功能评估显示对照组和应激组在恢复方面存在显著差异。对个体应激大鼠的相关分析表明，在最后一次应激实验后45分钟，行走模式的恢复与肾上腺和髓质增大、胸腺退化以及促肾上腺皮质激素（ACTH）和皮质酮的血浆水平呈负相关。在对照大鼠中，坐骨神经功能指数（SF指数，以受伤爪与完整对侧爪之间的差异百分比表示）仅与肾上腺髓质重量显著相关。本研究表明，慢性间歇性足部电击应激会阻碍坐骨神经挤压损伤后的感觉运动恢复，且慢性间歇性应激的后果是个体决定的。我们认为，神经挤压损伤后功能性运动恢复的质量与个体大鼠的适应能力或应对方式有关。
