P. Meerlo et al., The influence of postnatal handling on adult neuroendocrine and behavioural stress reactivity, J NEUROENDO, 11(12), 1999, pp. 925-933
Environmental stimuli during early stages of life can influence the develop
ment of an organism and may result in permanent changes in adult behaviour
and physiology. In the present study we investigated the influence of early
postnatal handling on adult neuroendocrine and behavioural stress reactivi
ty in Wistar rats. Pups were subjected to handling from postnatal day 1-21.
The young were taken from the nest every day for 15 min and each of the pu
ps was handled separately. Control nests were left undisturbed. When the an
imals had reached an adult age of 3-4 months they were individually housed
and subjected to a series of tests to measure their stress reactivity. In t
he first experiment we established adult behavioural coping with stressors
and anxiety in the following series of tests: open field test, shock prod d
efensive burying test, elevated plus maze and conditioned fear test. Collec
tively, the data clearly indicate that handled animals are characterized by
a lower stress-induced anxiety. Yet, handled and control animals do not di
ffer in their general way of coping with stressors. Although the lower anxi
ety in handled animals is often reflected in a higher activity, they are no
t more active per se. In a second experiment, animals were provided with a
permanent jugular vein canula for repeated blood sampling to determine stre
ss hormones: noradrenaline, adrenaline, prolactin and corticosterone. Anima
ls were subjected to a novelty test and a conditioned fear test. The neuroe
ndocrine response profile is consistent with the conclusion that handled an
imals are less anxious than controls but are not different in their general
strategy of coping with stressors. The handled animals showed an attenuate
d adrenaline, prolactin and corticosterone response. Yet, in neither of the
two tests there was a difference in noradrenaline response, a typical mark
er for an active coping strategy. Interestingly, the differences in neuroen
docrine reactivity already appeared in response to a mild novelty challenge
when there were no clear behavioural differences yet. The neuroendocrine m
easures are in line with the behavioural data but more sensitively reflect
the differences between handled and control animals.