INFLUENCE OF THE "TIME DEFICIENCY" STRESS ON THE THYROID STATUS AND INDICES OF STRESS RESPONSE

Background. Currently, the most urgent stressor is time deficiency (TD), which causes the development of emotional stress (S). The aim of the research was to study the influence of the «time deficiency» stress on the severity of parameters that reflect the intensity of the stress response: relative weight of the adrenal glands, spleen and thymus; the state of the gastric mucosa; concentrations of iodine-containing thyroid hormones, corticosteroids and insulin in the blood. Material and methods. The experiment was performed on 30 mongrel male rats with a mass of 220-240 g. To model the «time deficiency» stress (TDS), a device was used that was quickly filled with water, in which the animal had to move quickly to avoid contact with it. Results. TDS caused an increase in the concentration of iodine-containing thyroid hormones in the blood (by 18- 32%) and lead to an increase in the relative weight of the adrenal glands (by 31%) and corticosteroids (C) concentration in the blood (by 43%), a decrease in the relative weight of the spleen, thymus and insulin (I) serum concentration (by 26, 14, 19%), as well as gastric mucosa (GM) damage (in 80% of animals an injury severity score of 1 was present in 20% of rats, scores 2 or 3 in a ratio of 1:1 were in 60%; multiplicity of hemorrhages per animal was 2 in 30%, 3 in 40 % and 4 in 10% of rats; index of damage was 4.7). Conclusions. TDS stimulates thyroid function and causes the appearance of a classic stress triad in rats - hypertrophy of the adrenal glands, thymic-lymphatic involution, GM damage, while changing the serum concentrations of stress hormones – C (increase) and I (decrease). Consequently, the proposed model of TDS is effective for the formation of emotional stress. The possibility of individual testing of experimental animals excludes the influence of their joint residence on somatic and vegetative indices, which increases the objectivity of the study.