The purpose of this study was to observe the least amount of acute restraint stress that was needed to produce significant changes in the oxidative stress parameters.

Stress may be defined as a complex dynamic condition in which the homeostasis of an organism is disturbed or threatened. Several studies have reported on the effects of stress on the body and on the heightened susceptibility of the brain amongst other organs to the effects of stress. In this study we aim at checking how, and to what extent acute restraint stress impacts the oxidative stress parameters in the brain and liver of adult male wistar rats.

The study involved two groups of animals: the control (5 animals) and the acute restraint stress group (5 animals). The stress-inducing protocol employed was restraint by wiremesh method; the animals were restrained for four sessions with each session lasting two hours. Plasma level of glucose was determined and compared across the groups. Presence and extent of oxidative stress was determined in the brain and liver of the animals through the assessment of SOD and CAT activity and levels of TBARS which is an indicator for MDA production. Levels of these parameters were assessed in the liver and cerebral homogenates of the studied groups. Histology samples from the brain and liver of both groups were also compared.

Results were presented as MEAN±SEM. Exposure to acute restraint stress resulted in a decrease in SOD and CAT enzyme activity (lowest levels of enzyme activity in the brain) in the acute restraint group. MDA levels were higher in the acute restraint groups. All results were statistically insignificant (P>0.05) when compared with the control groups.

The results reveal that acute restraint stress reduces the level of the antioxidant enzymes and elevates the levels of MDA most especially in the brain. In this current study we attribute the lack of statistically significant data to be due to the fact that the study design employed was below the threshold for statistically significant alterations in biochemical parameters to manifest. Further studies should investigate the minimum amount of acute restraint needed to elicit statistically significant changes in the oxidative parameters and should also seek to know how long it takes the  animals to habituate this responses until their eventual attenuation.

Keywords: Acute; Restraint stress; oxidative; Biomarkers.