Cytokine Profile of Peripheral Blood in Rats with Various Behavioral Characteristics during Acute Emotional Stress

The cytokine profile of peripheral blood plasma was studied in rats with various behavioral characteristics after acute emotional stress (1-hour immobilization with simultaneous electrocutaneous stimulation). Under basal conditions the concentrations of pro-inflammatory (IL-1α, IL-1β, IL-2, IFN-γ, and granulocyte-monocyte CSF) and anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-4 and IL-10) in the blood of active animals were higher than in passive specimens. Acute stress was accompanied by a decrease in the level of plasma cytokines in behaviorally active rats. Stressed passive specimens were characterized by the accumulation of a pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-1β and anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-4 in the peripheral blood. The observed differences in the cytokine profile of the blood in behaviorally passive and active rats under basal conditions and after a negative emotiogenic exposure can be related to the specifics of immune reactions and metabolic processes in animals with different prognostic resistance to similar stress factors.