Plasma ACTH and corticosterone responses to limbic kindling in the rat.

Changes in plasma ACTH and corticosterone concentrations were measured in individual cannulated rats at stages 1 and 5 of limbic kindling induced by electrical stimulation of the basolateral amygdala or the dorsal hippocampus. At both stages, a stimulation of either structure produced swift surges, first of ACTH and then of corticosterone. At stage 5 of hippocampal stimulation, ACTH baseline concentrations were four times higher than in the controls. The results are discussed in relation to the central control of the adrenocorticotropic system and to the neuroendocrine correlates of the kindling process.