Change of Serum Cortisol Level in Mice Resulting from Electric-Foot Shock Stressor

Author : Elyana Putra Asnar, M. Cholil Munif Abstract : Chronic stressor on individual is potential to induce distress. Cortisol is a hormone that widely recognized as a stress indicator, while hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis connects the brain with endocrine system. Psychological stressor is the most common stressor discussed, while there are many other types of stressors. One of them is electric-foot shock. The effect of electric-foot shock on the alteration of serum cortisol levels deserved further investigation. Randomly selected 10 Wistar strain mice (Rattus norvegicus) were used in this study. These experimental animals were given 15 mA incremental dose of electric-foot shock stressor for 7 and 14 days. This research used one group pretest-posttest design and one-way ANOVA analysis. Male mice aged 3-4 months with bodyweight of 150 - 175 gram were used, aimed to demonstrate that electric-foot shock might induce psychological stress, which rises the serum cortisol levels, and to show the change of serum cortisol levels on early (7 days) and prolonged (14 days) stress condition. The results of the study showed 0.220 -g/dl increase of cortisol serum level on 7 days of electric-foot shock stressor, from 0.584 0.181 -g/dl to 0.804 0.150 -g/dl (p = 0.001). Whereas, 14 days of electric-foot shock stressor showed 0.113 -g/dl reduction of cortisol level, from 0.804 0.150 -g/dl to 0.691 0.151 -g/dl. The reduction, however, was not significant (p = 0.061). In conclusion, electric-foot shock may result in cortisol level change similar to those that occur in stress due to psychological stressor. The increase of cortisol level in 7 days group indicated that electric-foot shock might promote an alarm stage of stress. The decrease of serum cortisol level resulting from electric-foot shock in the 14 days group tends to promote an adaptation stage of stress. (end)

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