Expression of aggression attenuates both stress-induced gastric ulcer formation and increases in noradrenaline release in the rat amygdala assessed by intracerebral microdialysis.

The effects of an aggressive biting response on stress-induced noradrenaline (NA) release in the rat amygdala and gastric ulcer formation were studied with an intracerebral microdialysis technique. Rats were exposed to a 60-min period of cold restraint stress with or without being allowed to bite a wooden stick. They were sacrificed 100 min after release from stress to investigate gastric ulcer formation. Cold-restraint stress increased NA release to 304 +/- 22.3 and 206 +/- 23.8% of basal levels (mean +/- SEM) in the nonbiting and biting groups, respectively. The stress-induced increases in NA release in the nonbiting group were significantly higher than those in the biting group. In the nonbiting group, significant increases in NA release continued for 80 min after release from stress; however, NA levels in the biting group recovered to basal levels immediately after the cessation of stress. Although many severe gastric lesions with bleeding were found in the nonbiting group, fewer gastric lesions without bleeding were found in the biting group. The cumulative length of gastric lesions in the nonbiting group and in the biting group was 26.2 +/- 7.4 and 6.8 +/- 3.9 mm (mean +/- SEM), respectively. The mean number of ulcers in the nonbiting group and the biting group was 11.8 +/- 1.3 and 1.8 +/- 0.7 (mean +/- SEM), respectively. Both the cumulative length of ulcers and the number of ulcers were significantly lower than those seen in the nonbiting group. These findings strongly suggest that expression of aggression during stress exposure attenuates not only stress-induced increases in NA release in the rat amygdala but also gastric ulcer formation consequent to stress.