Effect of odor inhalation of rats with restraint stress on their hypothalamic gene expression profiles

Inhaled (R,S)-linalool returned the expression of 560 stress-induced probe sets to a normal status. These genes were associated with synaptic transmission via neurotransmitters including anxiolytic neuropeptides such as oxytocin and neuropeptide Y, and also included a number of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I necessary for neural development and plasticity. These results reveal some of the molecular mechanisms for odor inhalation under stress condition at the hypothalamus.