Corticotropic and serotonergic responses to acute stress with/without prïor exercise training in différent rat strains

International audienceThe ability to cope with exercise training dépends both on environmental and genetic background; however, whether the genetic status may affect (i) the hormonal status of trained subjects and, (ii) its responses to a heterotypic stressor is unknown. Herein, we hâve used Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats (SHR) and Lewis rats, that differ with regard to their psychoneuroendocrine profiles, to study the influences of an 8-week training programme and/or a 1-h immobilization stress on plasma adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) and corticosterone levels. In addition, brain serotonin metabolism was also measured as an index of neurochemical reactivity to stress. The amplitude of immobilization-elicited increases in ACTH levels which differed with the rat strain (Lewis > SHR), was amplified by prior training; besides, training decreased the strain différence in basai corticosterone (SHR > Lewis) and affected corticosterone response to immobilization in a strain-dependent manner. Thus, immobilization, which increased corticosterone levels in sedentary Lewis but not in SHRs, did not reveal interstrain différences in trained rats. Taken with the observation of a stimulatory effect of training on adrenal weights in SHRs, but not in Lewis, it is concluded that the effects of training on the corticotropic axis dépend on the genetic profile of the individual. Lastly, training amplified the response of midbrain (but not striatum or hippocampus) serotonin metabolism to immobilization in a strain-independent manner although the levels of serotonin precursor, namely tryptophan, varied with training and immobilization in a strain-dependent manner. This study shows that some neuroendo crine and neurochemical effects of training undergo interindividual variability