Tactile stimulation of adult rats modulates hormonal responses, depression-like behaviors, and memory impairment induced by chronic mild stress: role of angiotensin II.

Tactile stimulation of adult rats modulates hormonal responses, depression-like behaviors, and memory impairment induced by chronic mild stress: role of angiotensin II. Behav Brain Res. 2019 Oct 22;:112250 Authors: Costa R, Leite Tamascia M, Sanches A, Peres Moreira R, Sousa Cunha T, Doki Nogueira M, Casarini DE, Klein Marcondes F Abstract Physical touch can help to decrease the effects of stress. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of tactile stimulation on the hormonal and behavioral responses of young adult rats submitted to chronic mild unpredictable stress (CMS), considering the role of angiotensin II (Ang II). In Experiment 1, male rats were divided into 4 groups: control, stress, tactile stimulation (TS), and stress + TS. CMS was applied for three weeks. Tactile stimulation was applied for seven weeks, five days a week. After the CMS protocol, depression-like behaviors were evaluated by forced swimming and sucrose consumption tests. Learning and memory were evaluated using the Y-maze test. Fifteen days after the CMS procedure, the animals were euthanized and the levels of stress hormones were determined. The hypothalamus was isolated for determination of the Ang II concentration. In Experiment 2, control and stressed rats, with or without treatment using losartan (angiotensin II type 1 receptor blocker), were evaluated using the same behavioral tests and the hypothalamus Ang II concentration was also determ...
Source: Behavioural Brain Research - Category: Neurology Authors: Tags: Behav Brain Res Source Type: research