Stress is considered to be a risk factor of several diseases. The following hypotheses were tested: (1) single exposure to an intensive stressor is followed by endothelial stimulation and/or damage to endothelial cells, (2) potential stress-induced endothelial cell damage is reduced by repeated pretreatment with pentoxifylline and (3) pentoxifylline treatment modifies neuroendocrine activation during stress reflected by changes in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis function. Rats were treated with saline or pentoxifylline (20 mg/kg, s.c.) once daily for 7 days and then exposed to single immobilization stress for 20 or 120 min. In saline pretreated rats, stress exposure was followed by a rise in endothelaemia, von Willebrand factor concentrations, adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and corticosterone release, as well as by enhanced gene expression of hypothalamic corticotropin releasing factor (CRH). Stress-induced changes were reduced by pretreatment with pentoxifylline. Significant inhibition was observed in endothelaemia, plasma ACTH and corticosterone concentration in the adrenals. Thus, signs of endothelial injury as well as stress-induced hormone levels were reduced by pretreatment with pentoxifylline, although there is no evidence for a causal relationship. This protective action of pentoxifylline might be of benefit in the prevention and therapy of some stress-related disorders.
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Major depression is frequently associated with the hyperactivity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis, and glucocorticoid synthesis inhibitors have been shown to exert antidepressant action. The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of joint administration of metyrapone (50 mg/kg) and imipramine (5 and/or 10 mg/kg) on immobility time, plasma corticosterone concentration, the weight of spleens and thymuses and the proliferative activity of splenocytes in rats subjected to the forced swimming test - an animal model of depression. Metyrapone alone (50 mg/kg) reduced the immobility time of rats in the forced swimming test and decreased plasma corticosterone level, but did not change immunological parameters. Joint administration of metyrapone and imipramine (5 and 10 mg/kg) produced a more pronounced antidepressant-like effect than either of the drugs given alone. The forced swimming procedure significantly increased the proliferative activity of splenocytes, that parameter being reduced only by co-administration of metyrapone and imipramine. Joint administration of metyrapone and imipramine inhibited to a similar extend the corticosterone level as did treatment with metyrapone alone (about twofold); however, the plasma corticosterone level in animals treated with metyrapone and the higher dose of imipramine did not differ from the concentration of this steroid in control, not-stressed rats. The obtained results indicate that metyrapone potentiates the antidepressant-like activity of imipramine and exerts a beneficial effect on the stress-induced increase in plasma corticosterone concentration and the proliferative activity of splenocytes. These finding suggest that a combination of metyrapone and an antidepressant drug may be useful for the treatment drug-resistant depression and/or depression associated with a high cortisol level.
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Our previous study suggests that in prenatal stress model of depression glucocorticoid receptor (GR) function in adult rats is enhanced. However, the long-term consequences of stress, a causal factor in depression, on intracellular elements involved into the regulation of GR function is poorly examined. Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), activity of which is disturbed in depression, are important regulators of GR action, so they can mediate the effect of stress on GR function. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the levels of active phosphorylated forms of extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK), Jun N-terminal kinases (JNK) and the p38 kinase in the hippocampus and frontal cortex in rats subjected to prenatal stress. The concentration of MAP kinase phosphatase (MKP-1, MKP-2) and protein phosphatase-2A (PP2A), which dephosphorylate all forms of MAP kinases, were also determined. During verification of the applied model of depression, we found that prenatally stressed rats displayed high level of immobility in the Porsolt test and that the administration of imipramine, fluoxetine, mirtazapine and tianeptine for 21 days normalized this parameter. Western blot study revealed that rats subjected to prenatal stress had decreased levels of p-JNK1 and p-JNK2 in the hippocampus and p-p38 in the frontal cortex, but the concentrations of p-ERK1 and p-ERK2 were not changed. Chronic treatment with imipramine inhibited the stress-induced decrease in p-JNK1/2, while imipramine, fluoxetine and mirtazapine blocked changes in p-p38. PP2A phosphatase level was higher in the hippocampus and frontal cortex in prenatally stressed animals than in control rats. Chronic treatment with antidepressant drugs attenuated the stress-induced increase in the level of this phosphatase, but had no effect on its concentration in control animals. There was no significant difference in MKP-1 and in MKP-2 levels in both brain structures between control and prenatally stressed rats. The obtained results showed that prenatal stress decreased the levels of active form of JNK and p38, but enhanced PP2A phosphatase expression and most of these changes were reversed by antidepressant drugs. Since p-JNK and p-p38 are known to inhibit GR function their lowered levels may enhance glucocorticoid action. Furthermore, the increased PP2A concentration may intensify GR action not only by inhibition of JNK and p38 phosphorylation, but also by a direct influence on the process of GR translocation.
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