Hippocampal and striatal [H-3]5-HT reuptake under acute stressors in two rat strains differing for their emotivity

Spontaneously hypertensive rats and Lewis rats differ in their anxiety leve ls and in their serotonergic and corticotropic responses to stress. Since t he 5-HT transporter plays a key role in 5-HT neurotransmission, we have ana lyzed whether hippocampal and/or striatal [H-3]5-HT reuptake kinetics are a ltered by stress in a strain-dependent manner. It was found that forced swi mming, treadmill running, or restraint for 30 min affected neither hippocam pal nor striatal [H-3]5-HT reuptake K-m and V-max values in the two rat str ains. This study, which is the first to examine the impact of acute stress on [H-3]5-HT reuptake with respect to the nature of the stressor, the brain region analyzed, and the rat strain, could reinforce the hypothesis that e xtracellular 5-HT levels during stress are representative of 5-HT release. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.