BACKGROUND Chronic stress contributes to increased risks of atherosclerotic diseases including heart disease, stroke, and transient ischemic attack. However, its underline mechanisms are poorly understood. This study aimed to elucidate the mechanism via which chronic stress exerts its effect on atherosclerosis (AS). METHODS Fifty male New Zealand white rabbits were used. Aortic balloon-injury...

The cellular and molecular effects of stress on the amygdala are strikingly different compared with those in the hippocampus. Previous findings on stress-induced plasticity were based primarily on postmortem analysis within individual areas. However, little is known about how stress affects dynamic changes and interactions in neuronal activity between the two areas. Hence, we simultaneously mon...

Depression is the most common form of mental disability in the world. Depressive episodes may be precipitated by severe acute stressful events or by mild chronic stressors. Studies on the mechanisms of depression require both appropriate experimental models (most of them based on the exposure of animals to chronic stressors), and appropriate tests for assessment of depressive states. In this st...

The hippocampus and the amygdala are essential components of the neural circuitry mediating stress responses. The hippocampus, which provides negative feedback regulation of the stress response, is particularly vulnerable to degenerative changes caused by chronic stress. Unlike the hippocampus, relatively little is known about how stress affects the amygdala and the nature of its role in the st...

INTRODUCTION Chronic stress is known to have negative effects on reproduction, but little is known about how it affects the sexual response cycle. The present study examined the relationship between chronic stress and sexual arousal and the mechanisms that mediate this relationship. AIM The aim of this study is to test the relationship between chronic stress and sexual arousal and identify me...

Chronic psychologic stress increases corticosterone levels, which decreases bone density. Active mastication or chewing attenuates stress-induced increases in corticosterone. We evaluated whether active mastication attenuates chronic stress-induced bone loss in mice. Male C57BL/6 (B6) mice were randomly divided into control, stress, and stress/chewing groups. Stress was induced by placing mice ...

The effects of dietary supplementation of grape seed extract (GSE) and vitamin C on carcass characteristics, gut morphology and ileal microflora in broiler chickens exposed to chronic heat stress were examined. Experimental diets included a control diet (without additive), 3 levels of GSE (150, 300, 450 mg/kg of diet), and vitamin C (300 mg/kg of diet). Each of the five diets was fed to 5 repli...