Astrocyte hypertrophy in the dentate gyrus of young male rats reflects variation of individual stress rather than group environmental complexity manipulations.

Glial hypertrophy is associated with synaptogenesis in visual cortex and with stress-induced damage in the hippocampus. This study examined astrocytes in the dentate gyrus of male weanling rats exposed to complex or standard laboratory environments. No group differences in astrocytic surface density were observed, as expected in this brain region where group differences in synaptogenesis in male rats are reportedly minimal. Similarly, no group differences in adrenal weight were observed. Across all treatment groups, however, a significant positive correlation (r = 0.57) between adrenal weight and surface density of astrocytic processes was found. Considerable variation in responses of individual rats to their environments occurs in both the complex and the laboratory cage environments, and animals responding poorly may have had heavier adrenals and greater astrocyte reactivity in the dentate gyrus. Thus astrocyte hypertrophy in the dentate gyrus reflects the stress history of the individual rat and not any differential effects of rearing in a complex or a laboratory cage environment.