Novel environment induced inhibition of corticosterone secretion: physiological evidence for a suprachiasmatic nucleus mediated neuronal hypothalamo-adrenal cortex pathway

Basal plasma ACTH and corticosterone levels are controlled by the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), the site of the circadian pacemaker, resulting in a daily peak in plasma corticosterone and ACTH. The present study was carried out to investigate the mechanisms employed by the biological clock to control these hormones. Novel environment induced changes in plasma ACTH and corticosterone in intact and SCN-lesioned animals were employed as experimental approach. Placing intact animals in a new environment results in different plasma corticosterone and ACTH responses depending on the clock time of the stimulus. (1) Novel environment (2 h after onset of darkness (ZT14)) results in a fast decrease followed by an increase in corticosterone. This changing pattern in corticosterone secretion was not accompanied by any change in plasma ACTH, suggesting a direct neuronal control of the adrenal cortex. (2) In contrast, novel environment at 2 h after light onset (ZT2) results in a rapid increase in plasma ACTH. Regression analysis of the relation ACTH-corticosterone before and after stress shows a changed pattern at ZT2, although at that time still no significant correlation between ACTH and corticosterone was detected. AT ZT14 this correlation was only present after stress. (3) SCN lesioning results in low basal ACTH at all circadian times combined with elevated corticosterone levels. Here, a new environment results in an immediate increase in corticosterone without inhibition; ACTH also increases rapidly, but attains lower levels than at ZT2 in intact animals. (4) The present results therefore demonstrate SCN modulating corticosterone secretion by affecting ACTH secretion and changing the sensitivity of the adrenal cortex by means of a neuronal input