The adrenocortical hormones have been known to be related with the pathogenesis of mental disorders and individual vulnerability to stress. To evaluate the influences of adrenocortical hormone on the signal transduction system in brain, the
authors
observed the effect of bilateral adrenalectomy on the induction of immediate early genes(IEGs) after electroconvulsive shock(ECS).
Male Sprague-Dawley rats(200-250g) were treated with ECS(130V, 0.5sec) at day 3 after bilateral adrenalectomy, Rats were sacrificed at 0, 15, 30, 45, and 60 minutes after ECS, and cerebral cortex, hippocampus, and cerebellum were dissected from
the
brain. The induction of IEGs was assessed with northern hybridization. The band intensities of the autoradiographs measured with densitometer were compared between adrenalectomized group and shamoperated control group.
After adrenalectomy, the c-fos, jun B, and TIS I induction by ECS was general attenuated in the cerebral cortex. The induction of IEGs in the hippocampus and in the cerebellum was not influenced by adrenalectomy.
These results suggest that adrenalectomy has differential influences on the induction of IEGs by ECS in the rat brain depending on the region of brain.
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