The aim of the work is to ascertain the character of changes in the hormonal profile (concentrations of corticosterone, insulin, and adrenocorticotropic hormone) in conjunction with metabolic alterations and elevated blood pressure, which are induced in rats by restraint stress at 6th, 15th and 21st weeks of environmental space restriction. Materials and methods. A total of 55 normotensive male Wistar rats, aged 6–10 months, were assigned into 4 experimental groups (1 – intact control (10 rats); 2, 3 and 4 (15 rats each exposed to restricted space allowance)). All the animals were subjected to blood pressure (BP), blood glucose level and body weight measurements twice: at the stage of forming groups and at the 6th, 15th and 21st weeks. Plasma hormone concentrations (insulin, corticosterone, and ACTH) were examined by the immunoenzymatic method using commercial kits (Monobind, USA). Results. The body weight of the animals was significantly reduced by 20.72 % after 6 weeks of space allowance restriction, it was restored to baselines by the 15th week and exceeded control values by 26.1 % at the 21st week. BP levels showed an increasing trend, a dynamic increase in systolic pressure by 7 %, 17 % and 26 % was detected, respectively, as well as diastolic from the 15th week to the 21st week by 21.4 % and 37.0 %, respectively. Glucose concentration was within the euglycemic range. Changes in the hormonal profile showed an increase in the concentration of ACTH by more than 50 % and a decrease in insulin – by 34 % at the 6th week with a subsequent twofold decrease in the insulin concentration (at week 15) and a further more than twofold increase in ACTH at the 21st week. As for changes in the concentration of corticosterone, a peak increase of 3.77 times was noticed at the 15th week, followed by a decrease and restoration to the normative values by the 21st week. Conclusions. Even minor and unremarkable continuously acting stressors, which cannot be coped, become important triggers for hormonal profile and carbohydrate metabolism alterations as well as for a persistent increase in blood pressure, which manifest first by hypoinsulinemia, an increase in the level of ACTH, and a constant concentration of corticosterone. Long-term stress exposure contributes to a transient “peak” increase in the corticosterone level, a significant increase in insulin and a sustained increase in ACTH. Multidirectional changes in the levels of the studied hormones occur amidst a gradual increase in blood pressure and a stable increase in the level of glycemia.

The starting point for the prevention of human disease is the study of the vital functions of a healthy organism, taking into account complex effects of external and internal factors. More often in clinical practice, doctors observe patients with advanced pathology, when the body has undergone significant changes, including at the level of systemic regulation (CNS, hypothalamus) and at the level of intercellular signaling and neuro-immune-endocrine interactions. Therefore, the basis of these changes, more often, are insignificant but permanent factors of the external or internal environment, which gradually accumulate and disrupt the functioning of central regulatory systems. The aim of our study was to analyze modern sources of information that highlight current issues of the role of the hypothalamus in the development of adaptation programs during the formation of stressors. Materials and methods: analysis of scientific publications taken from Google Scholar databases, Web of Science, Pub Med by keywords: rats, stress reactions, adaptation, neuroendocrine regulation, neurotransmitters, hypothalamus, supraoptic nucleus, paraventricular nucleus. Conclusions: Thus, the analysis of scientific sources demonstrated that the main stress studies were devoted to determining the state and role of dominant systems, but there were few facts that had explained the long-term changes of the hypothalamus in regulatory systems. These issues remain unresolved and need to be studied. Introduction. Today, many facts and clinical observations about the complex effects of chronic stress of human body. The National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Veterans Health Administration conducted a large-scale cohort study that had provided evidence of an association between post-traumatic stress disorder and cardiovascular risk, had identified mechanisms that could cause this association, and had assessed prognostic risk, cardiovascular diseases [1]. Moreover, they form a post-stress syndrome, which by itself becomes a pathogenetic mechanism of disease formation. Rebeca Robles-García together with other researchers in 2020 demonstrated that high urbanization could increase the risk of post-traumatic stress disorder due to the concentration of poverty, limited living space, substance use and crime. Women tend to be more disadvantaged socially and economically and are more likely to be victims of collective and domestic violence than men. Accordingly, urban women are more prone to traumatic events that increase the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder than rural women and men in both rural and urban areas, especially those without social and family protection and support [2]. That is, even minor and indistinct stressors that act constantly and can not be overcome by man become an important etiological factor in the formation of a number of diseases.

Today, the issue of studying the mechanisms of the impact of social stress on public health and its role in the formation of key human diseases is relevant and necessary. A large number of works, both clinical observations and experimental studies, are devoted to this problem. However, despite the high interest in this problem, there are still "white spots". Therefore, the purpose of our study was to analyze modern sources of information that highlight current issues of long-term social stress and its role in the formation of "diseases of civilization." Matherials and methods: analysis of scientific publications from the following databases: Google Scholar, Web of Science, Pub Med, by keywords: rats, social stress, diseases of civilization, neuroendocrine regulation, hypothalamus, supraoptic nucleus, paravetricular nucleus. Conclusions: Thus, the analysis of resources shows the undoubted role of stress in the formation of human diseases. Many articles are devoted to the description and analysis of the negative effects of environmental factors and peculiarities of living conditions on human health. Most researchers agree on the key role of the hypothalamus in regulating the body's stress response and the presence of morphofunctional changes associated with stress. It is important to note that scientists have paid much attention to the study of individual models of stress, namely pain, immobilization and hypoxic over the past 20 years. Unfortunately, there are few facts concerning the analysis of the influence of long-term negative social factors that do not cause stereotyped reactions, but form latent changes that are inherent in classical stress reactions.