Influence of vestibular training on plasma levels of stress-related hormones in rats with motion sickness

AIM: To investigate the relationship between motion sickness and the plasma levels of stress-related hormones in the rats before and after vestibular training.METHODS: Conditioned taste aversion (CTA) was induced in 72 female SD rats after rotatory stimulation. The magnitude of CTA was measured to reflect the susceptibility of rats to motion sickness. The plasma levels of corticosterone, adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH), corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) and arginine vasopressin (AVP) were analyzed by radioimmunoassay. Hormone levels were determined before and after rotatory stimulation, and after 1 month of vestibular training when the rats obtained habituation to this rotation.RESULTS: CTA to 0.15% saccharin solution in rats after the rotatory stimulation was completely inhibited after vestibular training, suggesting that a habituation of the rats to motion sickness was obtained. The rotatory stimulation induced an elevation in the plasma levels of corticosterone, ACTH and AVP, and this response of corticosterone to rotation was greatly reduced after vestibular training. The plasma levels of all 4 hormones in the rats insusceptible to motion sickness were higher than those in susceptible group, especially the plasma levels of corticosterone and ACTH after rotation, and the basal level of CRH. In addition, after vestibular training, the basal plasma levels of corticosterone, ACTH and CRH in both groups were higher than those before training, and a slight elevation was also observed in the basal level of AVP.CONCLUSION: Vestibular training may induce a habituation to rotatory stimulation in rats, thus inhibiting the development of motion sickness. The difference of the susceptibility of rats to motion sickness may negatively relate to the basal plasma levels of stress-related hormones.