It has been shown that swimming STRESS and glucocorticoid injection significantly decrease the withdrawal syndrome signs of opioids in mice. In the current study, the effect of RESTRAINT STRESS on withdrawal syndrome signs was investigated in morphine-dependent mice. The experimental strategy of this study was performed on four groups of randomly divided rats;i.e., group A, which received normal saline (negative control), group B receiving morphine (positive control), group C, which received morphine after STRESS, and group D, which received morphine and STRESS at the same time. Animals in groups C and D were kept in restrainer for 7 consecutive days (4h/day). Data were subjected to the t test and one-way ANOVA and followed by Tukey test for multiple comparisons. The results showed that a significant reduction in stool weight occur in group D (0.48 ± 0.12 g) in comparison with group B (1.14 ±.0.23 g) respectively (p<0.05). However, no significant change in stool weight was observed comparing groups B and C. In addition, no significant change was observed in the number of jumping among groups B, C, and D.It can be concluded that RESTRAINT STRESS exerts short-term inhibitory effect on morphine action in gastrointestinal tract. The mechanism (s) underling this phenomenon remains to be elucidated.

Introduction: Prenatally STRESSed animal provides an important model to investigate how early STRESS adversely influences offspring. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine whether prenatal STRESS alters reproductive parameters, including maternal body weights, gestational length, size and body mass of the litter, and male to female ratios.Materials and Methods: Three month old pregnant female Wistar rats divided into two groups; control and experimental groups (n=20 in each group). Control rats were left undisturbed in their home cages. In the experimental group, pregnant dams were individually placed in a plexiglass RESTRAINT tube for 1 hr daily from days 15-21 of gestation. The current experiments are part of a long-term study on the effects of prenatal STRESS on the neurobiology and behavior.Results: Statistical analysis of data showed that the dam weights were the same in both groups at the beginning, but STRESSed dam weights were 12% lower at embryonic day 21 compared to controls (p<0.001). Prenatal STRESS had no effect on gestational length. STRESS performed during the last week of gestation did not adversely affect the pregnant female rat's ability to maintain their litters or deliver the pups. There were no incidents of spontaneous abortions and no differences in number of animals per litter (10.0±0.6 and 9.9±0.6 pups/litter for controls and prenatally STRESSed, respectively) or in the ratio of male to female pups. Results also showed a significant reduction in total litter mass in prenatally STRESSed rats compared to controls.Conclusion: Although this study did not show adverse effects of prenatal STRESS on the main reproductive parameters, it is important to note that the mentioned effects are not consistently reported in all studies, and differences between studies with respect to factors such as type and duration of STRESSor exposure play an important role for reproductive outcomes.

STRESS and its role in amplifying symptoms of disease, is one of the most important problem of mankind in developed counties. By identification of the roles of microflora in brains function, it seems that probiotics could be used for control and ameliorating of brain responses such as STRESS. So in this study, the effect of Lactobacillus rhamnosus LX-108, in ACTH secretion level was investigated in male wistar rats under chronic RESTRAINT STRESS (CRS). In this research 24 male wistar rats weighing 180- 200 gr randomly divided in to 3 groups: Negative control, Positive control (received CRS), and trail group (orally gavaged with 1 ml of probiotic suspension and received CRS). Rat’s weight was measured every week and animals were anesthetized with ether after three weeks, and blood samples were obtained directly from their hearts. ACTH concentrations of sera were measured by ELISA method with special kit. Indeed microflora profile was identified in fecal samples. Our results showed that administration of LX-108 can inhibit the induction of ACTH under CRS condition. Besides this probiotic resulted in increasing of intestinal Lactic acid bacteria and decreasing the Enterobacteriaceae level which induced in CRS condition. Fortunately administering of this probiotic inhibit weight loss induced in CRS condition. After clinical trials, Lactobacillus rhamnosus LX-108 and its probiotic products can be used for controlling of STRESS and its distracutive effects.