Glucoregulatory responses of adult and aged rats after exposure to chronic stress

Daily fluctuations in blood glucose with normal aging are inversely related to hippocampal synaptic mitochondrial proteins

Defective brain glucose utilization is a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD) while Type II diabetes and elevated blood glucose escalate the risk for AD in later life. Isolating contributions of normal aging from coincident metabolic or brain diseases could lead to refined approaches to manage specific health risks and optimize treatments targeted to susceptible older individuals. We evaluated metabolic, neuroendocrine, and neurobiological differences between young adult (6 months) and aged (24 months) male rats. Compared to young adults, blood glucose was significantly greater in aged rats at the start of the dark phase of the day but not during the light phase. When challenged with physical restraint, a potent stressor, aged rats effected no change in blood glucose whereas blood glucose increased in young adults. Tissues were evaluated for markers of oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS), neuronal glucose transport, and synapses. Outright differences in protein levels between age groups were not evident, but circadian blood glucose was inversely related to OXPHOS proteins in hippocampal synaptosomes, independent of age. The neuronal glucose transporter, GLUT3, was positively associated with circadian blood glucose in young adults whereas aged rats tended to show the opposite trend. Our data demonstrate aging increases daily fluctuations in blood glucose and, at the level of individual differences, negatively associates with proteins related to synaptic OXPHOS. Our findings imply that glucose dyshomeostasis may exacerbate metabolic aspects of synaptic dysfunction that contribute to risk for age-related brain disorders.

Adrenal neuropeptide Y mRNA but not preproenkephalin mRNA induction by stress is impaired by aging in Fischer 344 rats

Relatively few molecular markers of stress have been studied in aged individuals. Interactions of age and stress on adrenal neuropeptide Y (NPY) and preproenkephalin (ppENK) expression have not been reported. The purpose of these studies was to characterize the adrenal NPY and ppENK responses to stress using a common stressor, physical restraint for 2 h, in Fischer 344 rats at 7, 16 and 23 months of age. Northern blot techniques were used to evaluate induction by stress of adrenal NPY mRNA and adrenal ppENK mRNA. Two humoral responses to stress, serum glucose and corticosterone, were measured to corroborate that a stress response occurred. We observed that the induction by stress of adrenal NPY mRNA is impaired with age but the stress-induced elevation of adrenal ppENK mRNA, blood glucose, and corticosterone show no evidence of age-related impairments.

Growth and metabolic parameters in pups of undernourished lactating rats

Effects of reduced nutrition during postnatal development were studied by measuring body weight, plasma corticosterone, corticosterone-binding globulin (CBP), and metabolic parameters (plasma glucose and body composition) in preweanling Long Evans rat pups. Control litters consisted of dams that were fed chow ad lib while restricted dams were provided 1/3 the amount of chow given controls (25-30 g/day). At 11 days, body weight of the restricted pups dropped below that of controls. Percent body lipid, plasma corticosterone and glucose of restricted pups were lower than controls. Binding capacity of CBP in controls increased without a change in binding affinity (Kd). By contrast, binding capacity of CBP of restricted pups never matched that of controls but the Kd increased. Nutritional deprivation during lactation affected production of CBP that effectively reduced the biological activity of corticosterone in circulation. Deprived of an effective cellular response to an impoverished supply of food, pups were left with little capacity to manage endogenous fuels during the growth spurt that normally occurs during the suckling period.

Central but not peripheral opiate receptor blockade prolonged pituitary-adrenal responses to stress

Evidence from pharmacological studies suggest that opiate systems may serve either inhibitory or stimulatory functions on stress-induced responses of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis. The objective of these experiments was to determine whether these discrepant findings may result, in part, from differential effects of central or peripheral opiate receptor blockade on HPA axis responses. To this effect, groups of rats received injections of either saline, naltrexone (NHCl) or the quaternary analogue naltrexone methobromide (NMBr). The animals were then exposed to 30 min of a motion stressor and blood samples were obtained from each rat for analysis of ACTH, corticosterone, and prolactin. The data showed that resting and stress-induced levels of prolactin were decreased by NHCl only. Although neither drug affected the magnitude of the stress-induced ACTH and corticosterone responses, treatment with NHCl, but not NMBr, delayed the poststress decline of these responses. Hence, we concluded that central opiate mechanisms may be important for cessation of HPA axis activity, after exposure to stressful situations.