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Query: UMLS:C0848237 (acute stress)
 4,619 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Stress affects seizure susceptibility in animals and humans, but the underlying mechanisms are obscure. Here, we provide evidence that GABA(A) receptor-modulating neurosteroids derived from deoxycorticosterone (DOC) play a role in stress-related changes in seizure control. DOC, an adrenal steroid whose synthesis is enhanced during stress, undergoes sequential metabolic reduction by 5alpha-reductase and 3alpha-hydroxysteroid oxidoreductase to form 5alpha-dihydrodeoxycorticosterone (DHDOC) and allotetrahydrodeoxycorticosterone (THDOC), a GABA(A) receptor-modulating neurosteroid with anticonvulsant properties. Acute swim stress in rats significantly elevated plasma THDOC concentrations and raised the pentylenetetrazol (PTZ) seizure threshold. Small systemic doses of DOC produced comparable increases in THDOC and PTZ seizure threshold. Pretreatment with finasteride, a 5alpha-reductase inhibitor that blocks the conversion of DOC to DHDOC, reversed the antiseizure effects of stress. DOC also elevated plasma THDOC levels and protected mice against PTZ, methyl-6,7-dimethoxy-4-ethyl-beta-carboline-3-carboxylate, picrotoxin, and amygdala-kindled seizures in mice (ED50 values, 84-97 mg/kg). Finasteride reversed the antiseizure activity of DOC (ED50, 7.2 mg/kg); partial antagonism was also obtained with indomethacin (100 mg/kg), an inhibitor of 3alpha-hydroxysteroid oxidoreductase. Finasteride had no effect on seizure protection by DHDOC and THDOC, whereas indomethacin partially reversed DHDOC but not THDOC. DHDOC, like THDOC, potentiated GABA-activated Cl- currents in cultured hippocampal neurons (< or =1 microm) and directly activated GABA(A) receptor currents (> or =1 microm), compatible with a role for DHDOC in the antiseizure activity of DOC. DOC is a mediator of the physiological effects of acute stress that could contribute to stress-induced changes in seizure susceptibility through its conversion to neurosteroids with modulatory actions on GABA(A) receptors including THDOC and possibly also DHDOC.
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PMID:Stress-induced deoxycorticosterone-derived neurosteroids modulate GABA(A) receptor function and seizure susceptibility. 1197 55

Acute stress has been demonstrated to alter sensory gating processes, measured by the prepulse inhibition of the startle response (PPI). It is well known that brain and plasma levels of the neurosteroid allopregnanolone (ALLO) increase after acute environmental stress, fact that has been considered a homeostatic mechanism in restoring normal function following stress. Thus, it is of great interest to study the contribution of stress-altered plasma ALLO levels on PPI function. For this purpose, animals were injected with finasteride, an ALLO synthesis inhibitor, and submitted to swim stress before PPI testing. In order to obtain ALLO plasma levels, a separate set of animals that followed the same experimental procedure was used. We hypothesize that the blockade of ALLO production in response to stress can increase the stress-induced PPI disruption. In accordance with other authors, our results indicate that acute swim stress disrupted the normal PPI evolution (increase) related to the increase in prepulse intensities, and also decreased PPI at the highest prepulse intensity level (15 db above background). Finasteride potentiated the PPI decrease induced by swim stress in the intermediate prepulse intensity (10 db above background). As expected, plasma ALLO levels were increased in stressed animals and this increase was neutralized by prior finasteride administration. These results indicate that the neutralization of the physiological plasma ALLO levels increase after acute stress potentiates stress-induced PPI disruption. This data suggests that alterations in homeostatic ALLO synthesis mechanism may be linked to some neuropsychiatric disorders related to stress, such as anxiety/depression disorders.
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PMID:Finasteride administration potentiates the disruption of prepulse inhibition induced by forced swim stress. 2591 32