Effects of a single footshock followed by situational reminders on HPA axis and behaviour in the aversive context in male and female rats

Abstract

Gender is an important factor in the vulnerability to develop psychopathologies. At the biological level, stress-related pathologies such as depression or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are associated with profound disturbances of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. The aim of the present study was to assess sex-differences in the long-term effect of an intense stressful procedure on HPA function and behaviour in the aversive context in rats. Female and male rats experienced an aversive procedure consisting in an electric footshock (2mA, 10s) in a dark chamber followed by 3 weekly situational reminders (SR, 2min in the white chamber close to the footshock chamber). Our results indicate that 41 days after the end of the aversive procedure, female rats showed an increase of the corticosterone negative feedback in response to restraint stress, whereas such effect was not observed in males. Despite this change in the hormonal response, glucocorticoid receptors mRNA expression in the hippocampus was not affected in shocked females. In contrast, a significant increase of the mineralocorticoid receptors mRNA was observed in the CA2 of the hippocampus in shocked males. Finally, CRH mRNA levels in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN) were decreased in both female and male animals exposed to the aversive procedure. Behavioural observation revealed that shocked males and shocked females showed a high level of avoidance. However, the latency to visit the shock box was lower in females, which spent also more time in this area than males. In conclusion, our results suggest that gender might be a key factor impacting the direction of the effects induced by an intense stress. Interestingly, only females exhibited an increased negative feedback of the HPA axis response to stress, which could parallel endocrine changes of PTSD.