Assessment of Coercive Stress on the Behavioral, Exploratory and Metabolic Response in the Wistar Rats

Background: Stress is a strain on our mental and physical functions caused by various aversive and harmful events, inducing adaptive biological responses. However, if a stressful situation is too intense or persists over time, its repercussions on the individual become pathogenic. Stress also affects the animal world and represents an ethical and economic problem for farm animals and their welfare. Aim: The aim of our study is to evaluate the effect of restraint stress and its consequences. Materials and Methods: Twenty-four male and female Rattus rattus rats of the Wistar strain were exposed to two daily sessions of restraint stress over a period of 5 days. Results: Following this, locomotors exploratory anxiety-like behaviors were quantified in the elevated plus maze test and the open field test, and compared to control groups. Conclusion: The existence of a correlation between the behavioral consequences and the variation of the lipid profile following the induction of restraint stress was noted.