Lipid peroxidation in the striatum of rats during stress after administration of cortisol.

Lipid peroxidation processes were studied in the striatum during stress in conditions of prior administration of cortisol. Three doses of cortisol (25 mg/kg, daily) had no significant effect on the levels of lipid peroxidation products six days after injections ended. However, lipid peroxidation responses to stress during this period in animals given cortisol were significantly stronger than in controls (there were decreases in the intermediate products of lipid peroxidation and increases in the quantities of Schiff bases). Thus, administration of hormone leads to long-term changes in one of the most important regulatory systems of the body--lipid peroxidation--and has sensitizing effects on changes in the levels of stress-induced lipid peroxidation products.