Evaluation of the effects of exogenous cortisol manipulation and the glucocorticoid antagonist, RU486, on the exploratory tendency of bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus)
In teleost fshes, activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-interrenal axis leads to an elevation of circulating cortisol levels as a primary stress response. While acute elevation of cortisol is generally benefcial, long-term elevation, a common characteristic of chronic stress, may lead to detrimen...
| Autores: | , , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2023 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona |
| Repositorio: | Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:ddd.uab.cat:285887 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://ddd.uab.cat/record/285887 https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.1007/s10695-023-01250-0 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Teleost Stress Behaviour Endocrinology Glucocorticoid receptor Boldness |
| Sumario: | In teleost fshes, activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-interrenal axis leads to an elevation of circulating cortisol levels as a primary stress response. While acute elevation of cortisol is generally benefcial, long-term elevation, a common characteristic of chronic stress, may lead to detrimental efects on health and physiological performance in fshes. Some stress-mediated behavioural shifts, such as variation along the shy-boldness axis in fsh, may infuence individual ftness. The present study evaluated the role of cortisol and its mechanisms of action in the exploratory behaviour of the bluegill sunfsh (Lepomis macrochirus). Fish were implanted with cocoa butter alone (sham treatment), or cocoa butter containing cortisol, or cortisol and the glucocorticoid receptor antagonist, RU486. A control (untreated) group was also used. Animals were held for 48 h following treatment and then were subjected to a Z-maze trial to characterize the exploratory behaviour. Cortisol treatment had no measurable efect onthe exploratory behaviour of bluegill sunfsh. Despite presenting a higher probability of refuge emergence, fsh treated with cortisol combined with RU486 behaved similarly to cortisol-treated and control groups. While these results suggest that cortisol may not be involved in the mechanisms controlling boldness, the infuence of cortisol elevation across longer time periods plus validation in diferent contexts will be necessary to confrm this conclusion. |
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