Vital stress causes long-lasting behavioral disorders and lipid metabolism deviations in female rats

Abstract

Summary. Female rats after the vital stress caused by experience of the circumstances of the death of a partner from the actions of the predator showed long-lasting behavioral disturbances, such as decreased locomotor activity, exploratory activity, increased anxiety and aggression. Indicators of lipid metabolism of rats were altered in comparison with control at different time after exposure. These changes through two months later a single stress and right after second psychogenic trauma were characterized by reduced total cholesterol and cholesterol of high density lipoproteins in serum and increased triglycerides in the liver. The severity of behavioral disorders and deviations from the control values of indicators of lipid metabolism in female rats depended on the phases of the estrous cycle. The revealed deviations are discussed in terms of post-traumatic stress disorder.