Aims Chronic stress dramatically increases blood pressure (BP) whereas exercise habits inhibit this reaction in rats. Besides, the amygdala plays an important role in emotional processing, stress responses, and BP regulation. In our preceding study, chronically stressed rats significantly increased their BP compared with those in the control group and voluntary exercise led to a significant reduction in elevated BP levels. In addition, the signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) gene expressions on the amygdala seem to be involved in these responses. In this study, in order to confirm those findings, we focused on the STAT3 protein expression in rats’ amygdala under chronic stress-induced high BP and daily exercise conditions.
TOMITA et al. (Thu,) studied this question.