Social isolation during peri-adolescence or adulthood: effects on sexual motivation, testosterone and corticosterone response under conditions of sexual arousal in male rats.

Reproductive functions in adult organism are known to be affected by different factors. Effects of social environment at the postnatal ontogenesis attract particular attention since it has deep impact on the development of physiological and emotional state of an individual. Effects of chronic social isolation at different ages on male sexual motivation, testosterone and corticosterone response under conditions of sexual arousal were studied in Wistar rats.

The genetic control of blood pressure and body composition in rats with stress-sensitive hypertension.

The genetic basis of the stress-sensitive arterial hypertension was investigated using the quantitative trait loci (QTL) approach. Two groups of F2 (inherited stress-induced arterial hypertension [ISIAH] × Wistar albino Glaxo [WAG]) hybrid males of different age (3-4 months old and 6 months old) were tested for blood pressure at rest and stressed conditions and for body composition traits. Several novel loci for the traits were determined.

Effects of the mitochondria-targeted antioxidant SkQ1 on sexually motivated behavior in male rats.

Ample research indicates that age-related neuronal-behavioral decrements are the result of oxidative stress and may be ameliorated by antioxidants. Here we examined effects of mitochondria-targeted antioxidant, SkQ1, on sexual motivation in 12-month-old Wistar and accelerated-senescent OXYS male rats. A change in behavioral activity of a male at a holed transparent partition with a receptive female on the other side was taken as an index of sexual motivation.

MAO A knockout attenuates adrenocortical response to various kinds of stress.

The effect of a lack of the gene encoding monoamine oxidase A (MAO A) in transgenic Tg 8 mice on the corticosterone response to restraint, cold, water deprivation-induced, or social acute stress as well as chronic variable stress was studied. It was found that Tg 8 mice with genetic MAO A knockout and wild-type C3H/HeJ (C3H) strain showed similar plasma corticosterone resting level. MAO A knockout mice differed from C3H mice by attenuated response to restraint (60 min), cold (4 degrees C, 60 min), and water deprivation (48 h) as well as to a chronic (15 days) variable stress.

Immediate and long-lasting effects of chronic stress in the prepubertal age on the startle reflex.

The immediate and long-lasting effects of two models of chronic stress during the prepubertal period of life (21-32 days) on the acoustic startle response (ASR) were studied in outbred Wistar normotensives and rats with inherited stress-induced arterial hypertension (ISIAH) derived from them. Chronic variable stress (CVS) and repeated handling were used as chronic treatment. The obtained data showed a significantly attenuated ASR and a greater magnitude of prepulse inhibition (PPI) in juvenile and adult ISIAH compared to Wistar rats.