An assessment of prolactin's value as an index of stress

Benjamin H. Natelson; John E. Ottenweller; David Pitman; Walter N. Tapp

doi:10.1016/0024-3205(88)90438-9

An assessment of prolactin's value as an index of stress

Benjamin H. Natelson
, John E. Ottenweller
, David Pitman
, Walter N. Tapp

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

On an every other day basis, chronically catheterized male rats were subjected to a 30 sec grid shock in either an ascending (0.0, 0.25, 1.0, 4.0 mA) or descending order. A third group was repeatedly subjected to 1.0 mA shock over the same time frame. In 85% of the shock trials, plasma prolactin increased from baseline levels, thus indicating that prolactin is a relatively reliable index of stress. However prolactin did not change in a step-wise fashion with stressor intensity for a significant number of rats. Data from the group given repeated exposure to the 1 mA stressor showed no evidence of habituation - a process which might have explained the findings. This study indicates that prolactin levels do not sensitively track stressor intensity for individual rats.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1597-1602
Number of pages	6
Journal	Life Sciences
Volume	42
Issue number	17
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/0024-3205(88)90438-9
State	Published - 1988
Externally published	Yes

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@article{e2cd50d8542c4e358226e77507060d44,

title = "An assessment of prolactin's value as an index of stress",

abstract = "On an every other day basis, chronically catheterized male rats were subjected to a 30 sec grid shock in either an ascending (0.0, 0.25, 1.0, 4.0 mA) or descending order. A third group was repeatedly subjected to 1.0 mA shock over the same time frame. In 85\% of the shock trials, plasma prolactin increased from baseline levels, thus indicating that prolactin is a relatively reliable index of stress. However prolactin did not change in a step-wise fashion with stressor intensity for a significant number of rats. Data from the group given repeated exposure to the 1 mA stressor showed no evidence of habituation - a process which might have explained the findings. This study indicates that prolactin levels do not sensitively track stressor intensity for individual rats.",

author = "Natelson, \{Benjamin H.\} and Ottenweller, \{John E.\} and David Pitman and Tapp, \{Walter N.\}",

note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by VA medical research funds. The experiments could not have been done without the excellent technical capabilities of D. Creighton. Wa also thank Dr. A.F. Parlow and the National Pituitary Aqencv for providinq us with NIADDKr eagents.",

year = "1988",

doi = "10.1016/0024-3205(88)90438-9",

language = "English",

volume = "42",

pages = "1597--1602",

journal = "Life Sciences",

issn = "0024-3205",

publisher = "Elsevier Inc.",

number = "17",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - An assessment of prolactin's value as an index of stress

AU - Natelson, Benjamin H.

AU - Ottenweller, John E.

AU - Pitman, David

AU - Tapp, Walter N.

N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by VA medical research funds. The experiments could not have been done without the excellent technical capabilities of D. Creighton. Wa also thank Dr. A.F. Parlow and the National Pituitary Aqencv for providinq us with NIADDKr eagents.

PY - 1988

Y1 - 1988

N2 - On an every other day basis, chronically catheterized male rats were subjected to a 30 sec grid shock in either an ascending (0.0, 0.25, 1.0, 4.0 mA) or descending order. A third group was repeatedly subjected to 1.0 mA shock over the same time frame. In 85% of the shock trials, plasma prolactin increased from baseline levels, thus indicating that prolactin is a relatively reliable index of stress. However prolactin did not change in a step-wise fashion with stressor intensity for a significant number of rats. Data from the group given repeated exposure to the 1 mA stressor showed no evidence of habituation - a process which might have explained the findings. This study indicates that prolactin levels do not sensitively track stressor intensity for individual rats.

AB - On an every other day basis, chronically catheterized male rats were subjected to a 30 sec grid shock in either an ascending (0.0, 0.25, 1.0, 4.0 mA) or descending order. A third group was repeatedly subjected to 1.0 mA shock over the same time frame. In 85% of the shock trials, plasma prolactin increased from baseline levels, thus indicating that prolactin is a relatively reliable index of stress. However prolactin did not change in a step-wise fashion with stressor intensity for a significant number of rats. Data from the group given repeated exposure to the 1 mA stressor showed no evidence of habituation - a process which might have explained the findings. This study indicates that prolactin levels do not sensitively track stressor intensity for individual rats.

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/0023894789

U2 - 10.1016/0024-3205(88)90438-9

DO - 10.1016/0024-3205(88)90438-9

M3 - Article

C2 - 3367683

AN - SCOPUS:0023894789

SN - 0024-3205

VL - 42

SP - 1597

EP - 1602

JO - Life Sciences

JF - Life Sciences

IS - 17

ER -

An assessment of prolactin's value as an index of stress

Abstract

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