Objective: To compare and correlate serum cortisol and lipid profile among different groups of Male Sprague Dawley rats exposed to the stressors of immobilization and fasting while consuming standard lab diet, probiotics and synbiotics.
Methodology: This randomized control trial was carried out at Islamic International Medical College from September 2021 to September 2022, on 50 male Sprague Dawley rats. These were divided into Control-A (10 rats) and Experimental groups B1, B2, B3, and B4 (10 rats each), which were subjected to stressors of immobilizations (2 hours/5 days/10 weeks) and fasting 10 hours/5 days/10 weeks. Group B1 was given an extra 2 hours of fasting. Standard lab food for B1 and B2 while B3 received a conventional lab diet supplemented with probiotics. B4 received a standard lab diet supplemented with synbiotics. Serum cortisol and lipid profile was measured at 0, 4, and 10 weeks.
Results: Group B4 shows significant reduction (p≤0.001) in cortisol and lipid profile except HDL on comparison with other groups after 10 weeks. There was positive correlation between serum cortisol and cholesterol (0.840), triglyceride (0.741) and LDL (0.879) and negative correlation between serum cortisol and HDL -0.799.
Conclusion: Synbiotics ameliorate raised levels of cortisol and lipid profile due to stress exposure.
Key words: Stress, hypothalamic-pituitary axis, cortisol, lipid profile, synbiotics.
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