Effect of long-term mental and pain stress on the dynamics of H4 histone acetylation in hippocampal neurons of rats with different levels of nervous system excitability.

Priority data on specific effect of long-term mental and pain stress on the dynamics of H4 histone acetylation in the pyramidal neuron nuclei of the hippocampal CA3 field in rats selected by the nervous system excitability were obtained using a comparative genetic method. The congruency of long-term post-stress modification of H4 histone acetylation in neurons of rats with high threshold excitability and behavioral changes intrinsic of these rats suggest that increased acetylation of H4 histone together with changes in heterochromatin conformation play a triggering role in long-term modifications of genome expression underlying the pathogenesis of posttraumatic stress disorders and other psychogenias.