NEUROENDOCRINE RESPONSE DURING STRESS WITH RELATION TO GENDER DIFFERENCES

Neuroendocrine activation belongs to the main characteristics of the s tress response. This response is not uniform but depends on the stress stimulus involved and on many other factors including the gender of t he individual. In rats, corticosterone and ACTH levels as well as func tional activity of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical axis are h igher in females compared to males under both basal and stress conditi ons. Marked sex differences were observed in stress-induced changes in posterior pituitary hormone release. In male rats, release of vasopre ssin is not stimulated during stress conditions without an osmotic com ponent while in female rats a rise in plasma vasopressin levels was ob served even after short immobilization. Oxytocin release is enhanced i n response to the majority of stress stimuli and it was found to be gr eater in females than in males. Mentioned gender differences are attri buted to the effect of sex steroids, particularly those of estrogens. Not enough information is available on gender differences in the neuro endocrine response during stress in humans. We observed a greater neur oendocrine activation in women than in men in response to heat exposur e in sauna with pronounced differences in ACTH and prolactin release a nd partly also after a cold-presser test. Understanding of gender diff erences in neuroendocrine response during stress might contribute to t he explanation of the development of some emotional and other disorder s with higher incidence in women.