THE EFFECTS OF STRESS ON LIPOPROTEINS AND CATECHOLAMINES IN RATS

In order to investigate the effects of transportation stress on metabo lic activities, we measured the changes in plasma lipoprotein and cate cholamine levels in those rats that had just arrived in our Animal Fac ility and age-matched rats which had acclimatized in the Facility for at least 21 days. The acclimatized rats were considered as control, an d the values from the newly arrived rats was done within 4-6 days of t heir arrival in the Facility. The cholesterol levels in very low-densi ty lipoprotein (VLDL) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) were higher (7 1-84%) than the control levels. Also, the stressed animals had higher levels of norepinephrine (4.5-fold) and epinephrine (3-fold) than the control levels. However, dopamine levels was 34-fold lower than that o f control. On the basis of the data, we concluded that the change in p lasma levels of lipoprotein and catecholamines in response to the tran sportation stress is significant and may require at least three weeks after the transportation to establish a stable baseline for investigat ions in which the plasma levels of lipoproteins and catecholamines is a critical factor.