Fig. 2. Stress had effects on behavior and induced changes in evening plasma corticosterone levels and total gastrointestinal (GI) motility. (A) Social avoidance was analyzed by social interaction test. Exposure to chronic stress caused a significant increase in social avoidance (n = 10/group). (B) Plasma corticosterone levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Exposure to chronic stress caused a significant decrease in evening plasma corticosterone levels (n = 20/group). (C) Total GI transit time was measured after gavage of red carmine in control and stress mice (n = 9-10/group); total GI transit time was significantly increased in stressed mice; (D) however, total GI transit time was not associated with plasma corticosterone levels (n = 8-9/group) (Spearman’s rank correlation). (E) Data represent mean ± SEM. *P < 0.05,**P < 0.01 ****P < 0.0001; *by t test (A, B), Mann Whitney test (C), and Spearman’s rank correlation (D) represent significant difference between stress and control groups.
© J Neurogastroenterol Motil
