The aim of our study was to evaluate the effect of acute stress and the 5-HT(1A) receptor involvement in both, the hippocampus noradrenaline (NA) tissue levels and the c-Fos immunoreactivity (c-Fos-IR) in the catecholaminergic neurons of the locus coeruleus (LC). Double immunocytochemical staining of tyrosine hydroxilase (TH) and c-Fos protein combined with stereological techniques were used to study the specific cell activation in the LC neurons in five experimental groups (control group, immobilization (1h) group, 8-OH-DPAT group (8-OH-DPAT 0.3mg/kg, s.c.), DPAT+IMMO group (8-OH-DPAT 0.3mg/kg, s.c., 30' prior acute immobilization) and WAY+DPAT+IMMO group (WAY-100635 0.3mg/kg, s.c. and 8-OH-DPAT 0.3mg/kg, s.c., 45'and 30', respectively, before immobilization). The results showed that hippocampal NA tissue levels and c-Fos-IR in the TH positive neurons of the LC were significantly increased immediately and after 90', respectively, after the immobilization period. Pre-treatment with 8-OH-DPAT counteracted the effects induced by immobilization, but pre-treatment with WAY-100635 did not block the effects induced by 8-OH-DPAT. These results suggest that noradrenaline system is associated in a significant way with immobilization stress. The role of 5-HT(1A) receptor activation in this stress response is also discussed.