Daily and photoperiod variations of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis responsiveness in Japanese quail selected for short or long tonic immobility

Abstract

The aims of this study were to investigate the existence of a circadian rhythm of basal corticosterone (B) plasma concentrations in male and female Japanese quail lines divergently selected for long (LTI) or short (STI) duration of tonic immobility (TI) and the possible effects of photoperiod length on corticotropic axis reactivity. Significant peaks in B levels were observed throughout the day in 3 out of the 4 groups used in our experiments. However, B levels remained very low for all groups (< 5.0 ng/mL) and there was no consensus between groups. We therefore have no evidence from our results that basal B levels follow a circadian rhythm in adult STI and LTI quail held under a long photoperiod (16L:8D). We also showed that rearing under a long photoperiod (16L:8D) was associated with higher basal B levels and higher B adrenal response capacity to 1-24 adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) injection in the STI and LTI lines compared with a shorter period (8L:16D). Higher hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis responsiveness to restraint in a crush cage was also measured in female quail reared under the long photoperiod, and similar responses were measured under both photoperiods in males. This result suggests that the effects of photoperiod length involve both local and more central mechanisms in the control of HPA axis responsiveness according to sex. On the other hand, we showed that the genetic selection program for TI responses induced greater increases in the B level following restraint in STI quail than in LTI quail of both sexes under both photoperiods, but the B adrenal response capacity was similar for both lines and sexes. Although further investigations on both lines regarding adrenal sensitivity are necessary before being able to conclude definitively, our findings strongly suggest that the differences observed in HPA axis responsiveness to restraint between lines are probably not due to differences in adrenal function itself but may involve upstream structures of the HPA axis.