Blood Cytokine Profile in Rats with Various Behavioral Characteristics after a Single Exposure to Long-Term Stress

Abstract

Changes in the blood cytokine profile of rats with different behavioral activity were evaluated in various periods after stress exposure on the model of 24-h immobilization. Behaviorally active animals exhibited only a tendency to a change in the concentration of study cytokines in the dynamics after experimental stress. Stress exposure in passive specimens was accompanied by a decrease in the content of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines. These changes were most pronounced at the early stages of the post-stress period and persisted until the end of observations. After a single exposure to long-term immobilization, cytokine level in the peripheral blood of behaviorally passive animals was much lower than in active rats. Variations in immune indexes of mammals depend on the initial parameters of their behavior and duration of the post-stress period. Differences in the blood cytokine profile during negative emotiogenic exposures in passive and active rats are probably related to the specifics of immune reactivity in specimens with various sensitivities to stress.