The impact of psychogenic stressors on oxidative stress markers and patterns of CYP2E1 expression in mice liver

The increasing number of psychogenic stressors is a side effect of civilization. It results in the development of psychoemotional stresses and psychosomatic diseases.In this study we evaluated the effect of the chronic psychoemotional stress on the level of CYP2E1 expression in the liver of C57Bl/6 mice. Stress was induced by the immobilization of animals for 4 h per day during 7 or 14 days. CYP2E1 expression level was evaluated on the 7th and 14th days of the experiment, respectively. We detected a twofold reduction in CYP2E1 protein expression level relatively to controls for both time points tested. This reduction was no longer significant when the effect of the stressor factor was terminated on the 14th day of the experiment and animals were analyzed one week later. Remarkably Cyp2e1 mRNA expression level was constant at any time point of the experiment.We also documented significant changes in the expression/activity of two oxidative stress markers examined in the liver of treated mice. The catalase activity decreased fivefold while malondialdehyde transiently increased threefold. These data suggest that oxidative stress can be involved in the reduction of hepatic CYP2E1 and catalase activity under the conditions of chronic emotional stress.

► Psychoemotional stress (PES) was modeled by long-term immobilization of mice.
► The different stages of the oxidative stress development in mice liver were shown.
► Catalase activity decreased fivefold and did not recover after termination of stress.
► CYP2E1 protein level reduced twofold but somewhat increased after termination of PES.
► The level of Cyp2e1 mRNA was not significantly different from the normal level.