Immobilization stress-induced changes in liver function, oxidative balanceand inflammatory responses ofwistar albino rats

Abstract

The present study aimed to investigate the effect of immobilization stress onliver function, oxidative damage andinflammatory responsesin male wistar albino rats. Twelve wistar albino rats were randomly divided into two groups, six rats each. One group was not exposed to immobilization stress and served as control. The other group was exposed to immobilization stress. The rats in immobilized group were exposed to immobilization stress for 4 hours daily for 6 consecutive weeks. At the end of the experiment animals were sacrificed, and the blood samples and liver tissues were collected for the estimation of biochemical markers. Liver function assessed by serum transaminase activity showed significant (P <0.05) increases in ALT and AST levels, and a significant reduction in liver protein content of immobilization stressed rats. The oxidative status measured by malondialdehyde (MDA) level in liver tissues was significantly (P < 0.05) increased in immobilization stressed rats.Whilethe antioxidant biomarkerssuperoxide dismutase (SOD), reduced glutathione (GSH), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and catalase (CAT)levels were significantly (P <0.05) reduced in immobilization stressedrats. The pro-inflammatory cytokine biomarkers TNF-ɑ, IL-1ß and IL-6were significantly (P <0.05) elevated, whilethe anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 was significantly (P <0.05) reduced in immobilization stressedrats. The obtained results indicate that immobilization stress induced oxidative damage and inflammatory response which was reflected in a compromised liver function. This indicates that immobilization stress can be used as an easy and convenient method of stress induction.