The effects of stress on plasma ACTH and corticosterone in young and aging pregnant rats and their fetuses

Journal Article · Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1990 · Life Sciences; (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/0024-3205(90)90181-P· OSTI ID:6254292

Erisman, S ^[1]; Carnes, M ^[2]; Takahashi, L K; Lent, S J ^[3]

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1. William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital, Madison, WI (USA)
2. William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital, Madison, WI (USA) Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison (USA)
3. Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison (USA)

Compared to younger rats, old rats exhibit prolonged elevations of plasma ACTH and corticosterone (CORT) in response to stress. In addition, CORT crosses the placenta. To investigate whether fetuses of older rats may be exposed to higher concentrations of CORT during development than fetuses of young rats, we compared the effects of stress on hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis function in young and aging pregnant rats and their 19-day-old fetuses. The plasma of the mothers and fetuses was assayed for ACTH and CORT by radioimmunoassay. Both young and aging pregnant rats showed a significant increase in plasma ACTH and CORT immediately after exposure to stress. However, aging rats had more prolonged elevation of ACTH and CORT than young rats. This suggests that, like old male rats, aging pregnant rats have an alteration in feedback inhibition of the HPA axis. Prolonged elevation of CORT was also seen in fetuses of aging mothers. These results have important implications concerning the effects of stress during pregnancy at different maternal ages, and for the potential deleterious consequences of prolonged prenatal elevation in stress hormones on the offspring of aging females.

• OSTI ID: 6254292
• Journal Information: Life Sciences; (USA), Vol. 47:17; ISSN 0024-3205
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
CORTICOSTEROIDS
BIOSYNTHESIS
RATS
BIOLOGICAL STRESS
AGE DEPENDENCE
FETUSES
MEMBRANE TRANSPORT
PLACENTA
PREGNANCY
RADIOIMMUNOASSAY
ADRENAL HORMONES
ANIMALS
BIOASSAY
DIAGNOSTIC TECHNIQUES
FETAL MEMBRANES
HYDROXY COMPOUNDS
IMMUNOASSAY
IMMUNOLOGY
ISOTOPE APPLICATIONS
KETONES
MAMMALS
MEMBRANES
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PREGNANES
RADIOASSAY
RADIOIMMUNODETECTION
RADIOIMMUNOLOGY
RODENTS
STEROIDS
SYNTHESIS
TRACER TECHNIQUES
VERTEBRATES
550201* - Biochemistry- Tracer Techniques