Enkephalin knockdown in the basolateral amygdala reproduces vulnerable anxiety-like responses to chronic unpredictable stress.

ABSTRACT: The endogenous enkephalins (ENKs) are potential candidates participating in the naturally occurring variations in coping styles and determining the individual capacities for adaptation during chronic stress exposure. Here we demonstrate that there is a large variance in individual behavioral, as well as in physiological outcomes, in a population of Sprague-Dawley rats subjected to 3 weeks of chronic unpredictable stress (CUS). Separation of resilient and vulnerable subpopulations reveals specific long-term neuroadaptation in the ENKergic brain circuits. ENK mRNA expression was greatly reduced in the posterior basolateral nucleus of amygdala (BLAp) in vulnerable individuals. In contrast, ENK mRNA levels were similar in resilient and control (unstressed) individuals. Another group of rats we

SUBMITTER: Berube P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3957109 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature