Animals were subjected to restraint stress by placing them in a metal restrainer (17 × 6 × 5 cm) for 15 min, followed by decapitation and blood collection for corticosterone and ACTH measurements. The groups were as follows: Wistar basal (n = 5), Wistar restraint (n = 6), WAR basal (n = 4) selleckchem and WAR restraint (n = 5). To determine the adrenal responsiveness to ACTH 24 h before the experiments, rats were anesthetized with 2,2,2-tribromoethanol (25 mg/100 g bw. i.p., Aldrich, Milwaukee, WI, USA); a catheter was inserted into the right external jugular vein and advanced to the right atrium (Harms and Ojeda, 1974) for i.v. drug administration. On the day of the experiment, rats were pretreated

with dexamethasone (100 μg/100 g subcutaneously) and 2 h later they received an i.v. injection of ACTH (Synacthène, Novartis—8 ng/rat) or vehicle (0.9% NaCl). Trunk blood samples for plasma corticosterone determination were collected by decapitation 15 min after the injection. Groups: Wistar vehicle (n = 4), Wistar ACTH (n = 5), WAR vehicle (n = 4) and WAR ACTH (n = 5). BTK inhibitor cell line Plasma hormone levels were determined by specific radioimmunoassay, as previously described (Elias et al., 2002). The assay sensitivity was 0.4 μg/dl for corticosterone and 16 pg/ml for ACTH. The intra- and inter-assay coefficients of variation were 4% and 8% for corticosterone and 4.3% and 16% for ACTH, respectively. All samples from a single experiment were assayed

in duplicate in the same assay. Data were expressed as means ± SEM. Two-way ANOVA was used to analyze the data obtained from experiments on circadian rhythm variation, restraint stress

and exogenous ACTH stimulation. To analyze adrenal gland weight, adrenal medulla area and adrenal cortex layers, the Mann–Whitney test was used. Significance was established at p < 0.05. Eduardo HL Umeoka: Experimental procedures, data analysis and article preparation. Sérgio Britto Garcia: Histopathology and morphometry analysis of adrenal gland. José Antunes-Rodrigues, Lucila LK Elias and Norberto Garcia-Cairasco: Cediranib (AZD2171) Experimental design, advice on execution of experimental protocols/methods and article preparation. This project is supported by FAPESP, FAPESP-Cinapce, CAPES, PROEX-Physiology and PROEX-Neurology, FAEPA. JAR, LLEK and NGC are recipients of CNPq-Brazil research fellowship. We wish to thank all members of the Neuroendocrinology Laboratory and Neurophysiology and Experimental Neuroethology Laboratory, especially Rodrigo Rorato, Mauricio Benedetti, Olagide Castro, Victor Santos Rodrigues and Simone Marroni. The authors also wish to thank Maria Valci Silva, Marina Holanda and Rosangela Orlandin Lopes for their technical support. “
“In the above article, Fig. 1 and the legend for Fig. 1 appeared incorrectly. The correct Fig. 1 and legend for Fig. 1 are included here. “
“The five factor model is one of the most extensively applied models of personality currently in use.