Effect of acute and chronic stress on brain tissue mda level in normal wistar albino rats

Stressful stimuli can disrupt the physiological homeostasis. Acute and chronic stressors influence brain function and it is known to be the key factor for the genesis of various psychological disorders. The present study was designed to elucidate the influence of acute and chronic stress on different brain tissues of wistar albino rats. The animals were divided into two major groups as non stressed group (n =10) and stressed group (n =10). The stressed groups were divided into acute (one day) stress groups and chronic (30 days) groups. The animals of the stressed groups were subjected to acute and chronic types of swimming stress and immobilization stress. Lipid peroxidation was estimated in cerebral cortex, hypothalamus and cerebellum. Acute swimming stress and chronic immobilization stress significantly (P<0.001) increased the lipid peroxidation level in the cerebral cortex and hypothalamus. Whereas, acute immobilization stress and chronic swimming stress increased (P<0.001) the cerebellar lipid peroxidation. The observed regional specific alterations in lipid peroxidation levels show that the nature of the stressors are probably capable of generating a different degree of cellular imbalance in between pro-oxidants and antioxidants which may provide some approach on variety of neurological and psychological processes as well as their treatment.