Supplementary Material for: Repeated Forced-swim stress modulates neural structure and hepatic gene expression in the stress mice model

Introduction: Throughout time, there has always been a trend connecting stress and tangible damage to one’s physical well-being. However, there’s a lack of research that elucidates the physical and molecular traits of this stress on organ integrity. Chronic stress disrupts homeostasis, causing oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, inflammatory markers, and histological damage. Methods: In this study, a repeated forced swim stress (FSS) was used to induce stress in the C57BL/6 mice model and analyzed its effects on the brain and liver at behavioral, biochemical, histology, and genetic marker levels. Results: Behavioral analysis showed reduced mobility duration in experimental mice. This was further supplemented by histopathological data, which revealed mild brain deterioration and moderate liver damage. Biochemical analysis revealed upregulated levels of aminotransferase (ALT) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and decreased levels of mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH), pointing towards the existence of liver dysfunctionality due to stress. Moreover, we reported the gene expression analysis of stress biomarkers (Bdnf, Fkbp5, Npy, Comt, Ppm1f, Adra2b, and Slc6a4), with a particular focus on Fkbp5, which is associated with depression and cognitive impairment. Similarly, we also studied the expressions of Crp, Cyp2e1, and Irs-2 to gauge liver damage. Results revealed significantly upregulated expression of Npy, Fkbp5, and Ppm1f in stressed mice. Conclusion: Our study identifies that chronic stress shows physical and molecular realizations. Additionally, this offers further incentive to look closely at Fkbp5, Npy, and Ppm1f under similar conditions and highlights their possible roles as markers of stress-induced damage.