Hyperammonemia, Subordination, Hypoxia Influence Stress Hormone CRF Production in Fish

"Comparison of the plasma cortisol levels in response to the diverse treatments showed that subordination was the most severe stressor followed by hyperammonemia, isolation, and hypoxia. In the POA, with the exception of subordination that had no effect on UI expression, all stressors resulted in increase in CRF and UI mRNA levels."

Comment: Basically, this says that in fish these stressors increase stress hormones. Other organisms are often used as experimental models to test psychological theories. These same hormonal pathways exist in humans and for this reason, one can suggest these stressors may elicit similar responses and these kinds of experiments are often performed on animals to analyze reactions before humans or where experimentation on humans would be "unethical" or "too difficult".


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