Chronic restraint stress massively alters the expression of genes important for lipid metabolism and detoxification in liver.

Repeatedly delivered psychological, chemical or physical stress leads to drastic changes of physiology in various regions of body including liver. The underlying hepatic mechanisms whereby body copes with the stress conditions, however, are poorly understood. In the present study, we performed a genome-wide screen for the altered gene expression in liver of mice that were exposed to chronic restraint stress. cDNA microarray analysis followed by RT-PCR techniques led us to identify >235 genes that were up- or down-regulated by >1.8-fold in their expression levels. Among the wide ranges of genes identified from the screen, the elevated expression of a group of genes important for lipid metabolism and detoxification were particularly notable. The results of this study suggest that similar to the effects of genetically predisposed or externally-delivered environmental chemicals, diets, and drugs, the chronic restraint stress potently alters the gene expression profile in liver.