Velbinger, K., De Vry, J., Jentzsch, K., Eckert, A., Henn, F., Muller, W. E. (July 2000) Acute stress induced modifications of calcium signaling in learned helpless rats. Pharmacopsychiatry, 33 (4). pp. 132-7. ISSN 0176-3679 (Print)0176-3679 (Linking)
Abstract
Previous reports have demonstrated reduced elevations of free intracellular calcium concentration in blood cells of depressed patients after various stimuli. Therefore, a disturbance of intracellular calcium (Ca2+) homeostasis has been postulated to be involved in the pathophysiology of mood disorders. It was the aim of the present study to investigate whether Ca2+ signaling was affected in spleen T-lymphocytes of rats submitted to a learned helplessness paradigm, an animal model of depression with a high level of construct, face and predictive validity. In addition, we tested for effects of acute stress on the Ca2+ signaling in helpless rats, as compared to non-stressed rats. It was found that mitogen-induced Ca2+ signaling only tended to be reduced in helpless rats. However, when helpless rats were submitted to acute immobilization stress, Ca2+ signaling appeared to be significantly blunted, whereas the same stressor did not affect Ca2+ signaling in the non-helpless control rats. These acute stress-induced differences in Ca2+ signaling were not paralleled by a differential increase in plasma corticosterone. It is hypothesized that blunted Ca2+ signaling, as assessed in spleen T-lymphocytes of helpless rats, may be a correlate of the increased vulnerability of helpless rats to acute stressors.
| Item Type: | Paper |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Animals Avoidance Learning/ physiology Calcium Signaling/ physiology Corticosterone/blood Electroshock Helplessness, Learned Male Rats Rats, Wistar Spleen/immunology Stress, Psychological/ physiopathology T-Lymphocytes/ physiology |
| Subjects: | organism description > animal behavior organs, tissues, organelles, cell types and functions > sub-cellular tissues: types and functions > calcium channel organism description > animal > mammal > rodent > rat organism description > animal > mammal > rodent > rat |
| CSHL Authors: | |
| Communities: | CSHL labs > Henn lab |
| Depositing User: | Matt Covey |
| Date: | July 2000 |
| Date Deposited: | 31 Jan 2014 20:30 |
| Last Modified: | 31 Jan 2014 20:30 |
| Related URLs: | |
| URI: | https://repository.cshl.edu/id/eprint/29347 |
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