Journal
STRESS-THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON THE BIOLOGY OF STRESS
Volume 21, Issue 3, Pages 274-278Publisher
TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
DOI: 10.1080/10253890.2017.1402175
Keywords
Stress; inhalant; addiction; allostasis; corticosterone; catecholamines
Funding
- Douglass L. Morell Dentistry Research Fund at the University of Washington
- National Institutes of Health [National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research] [T90DE021984]
- NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF DENTAL & CRANIOFACIAL RESEARCH [T90DE021984] Funding Source: NIH RePORTER
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Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a gaseous drug with abuse potential. Despite its common clinical use, little is known about whether N2O administration activates the HPA axis and/or the sympathetic adrenomedullary system. The goal of this study was to determine whether 60% N2O alters plasma concentrations of corticosterone (CORT), epinephrine (EPI), and norepinephrine (NE) in male Long-Evans rats. A gas-tight swivel assembly in the lid of a gas administration chamber allowed the remote collection of blood samples from an indwelling jugular vein catheter at four time-points: baseline and at 30, 60, and 120min during a two-hour administration of 60% N2O. Relative to baseline, plasma CORT (n=9) was significantly elevated at all three time-points during N2O inhalation (mixed model analysis, p=.001) and plasma EPI and NE levels were each significantly elevated (n=8, p.001) at the 30min assessment. EPI then declined and did not differ from baseline at the 60 and 120min assessments (p>.05) whereas NE remained elevated (120min, p=.001). Administration of 60% N2O increases circulating CORT, EPI, and NE, supporting N2O as a physiological stressor. An N2O-induced increase in CORT is consistent with the observation that addictive drugs typically activate the HPA axis causing increased plasma levels of glucocorticoids. Allostatic models of drug addiction typically involve stress systems and the possible role of stress hormones in N2O-induced allostatic dysregulation is discussed.
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