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Resmim CM, Borba JV, Pretzel CW, Santos LW, Rubin MA, Rosemberg DB. Assessing the exploratory profile of two zebrafish populations: influence of anxiety-like phenotypes and independent trials on homebase-related parameters and exploration. Behav Processes 2023:104912. [PMID: 37406867 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2023.104912] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2023] [Revised: 06/12/2023] [Accepted: 07/01/2023] [Indexed: 07/07/2023]
Abstract
Anxiety is a protective behavior when animals face aversive conditions. The open field test (OFT) is used to assess the spatio-temporal dynamics of exploration, in which both homebase formation and recognition of environmental cues may reflect habituation to unfamiliar conditions. Because emotional- and affective-like states influence exploration patterns and mnemonic aspects, we aimed to verify whether the exploratory behaviors of two zebrafish populations showing distinct baselines of anxiety differ in two OFT sessions. Firstly, we assessed the baseline anxiety-like responses of short fin (SF) and leopard (LEO) populations using the novel tank test (NTT) and light-dark test (LDT) in 6-min trials. Fish were later tested in two consecutive days in the OFT, in which the spatial occupancy and exploratory profile were analyzed for 30min. In general, LEO showed pronounced diving behavior and scototaxis in the NTT and LDT, respectively, in which an "anxiety index" corroborated their exacerbated anxiety-like behavior. In the OFT, the SF population spent less time to establish the homebase in the 1st trial, while only LEO showed a markedly reduction in the latency to homebase formation in the 2nd trial. Both locomotion and homebase-related activities were decreased in the 2nd trial, in which animals also revealed increased occupancy in the center area of the apparatus. Moreover, we verified a significant percentage of homebase conservation for both populations, while only SF showed reduced the number of trips and increased the average length of trips. Principal component analyses revealed that distinct factors accounted for total variances between trials for each population tested. While homebase exploration was reduced in the 2nd trial for SF, an increased occupancy in the center area and hypolocomotion were the main factors that contribute to the effects observed in LEO during re-exposure to the OFT. In conclusion, our novel data support the homebase conservation in zebrafish subjected to independent OFT sessions, as well as corroborate a population-dependent effect on specific behavioral parameters related to exploration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cássio M Resmim
- Laboratory of Experimental Neuropsychobiology, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Natural and Exact Sciences Center, Federal University of Santa Maria, 1000 Roraima Avenue, Santa Maria, RS 97105-900, Brazil; Graduate Program in Biological Sciences: Toxicological Biochemistry, Federal University of Santa Maria, 1000 Roraima Avenue, Santa Maria, RS 97105-900, Brazil.
| | - João V Borba
- Laboratory of Experimental Neuropsychobiology, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Natural and Exact Sciences Center, Federal University of Santa Maria, 1000 Roraima Avenue, Santa Maria, RS 97105-900, Brazil; Graduate Program in Biological Sciences: Toxicological Biochemistry, Federal University of Santa Maria, 1000 Roraima Avenue, Santa Maria, RS 97105-900, Brazil
| | - Camilla W Pretzel
- Laboratory of Experimental Neuropsychobiology, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Natural and Exact Sciences Center, Federal University of Santa Maria, 1000 Roraima Avenue, Santa Maria, RS 97105-900, Brazil
| | - Laura W Santos
- Laboratory of Experimental Neuropsychobiology, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Natural and Exact Sciences Center, Federal University of Santa Maria, 1000 Roraima Avenue, Santa Maria, RS 97105-900, Brazil
| | - Maribel A Rubin
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Natural and Exact Sciences Center, Federal University of Santa Maria, 1000 Roraima Avenue, Santa Maria, RS 97105-900, Brazil
| | - Denis B Rosemberg
- Laboratory of Experimental Neuropsychobiology, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Natural and Exact Sciences Center, Federal University of Santa Maria, 1000 Roraima Avenue, Santa Maria, RS 97105-900, Brazil; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Natural and Exact Sciences Center, Federal University of Santa Maria, 1000 Roraima Avenue, Santa Maria, RS 97105-900, Brazil; The International Zebrafish Neuroscience Research Consortium (ZNRC), 309 Palmer Court, Slidell, LA 70458, USA.
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Classical and novel approaches to the preclinical testing of anxiolytics: A critical evaluation. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2012; 37:2318-30. [PMID: 22981935 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2012.09.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2012] [Revised: 08/21/2012] [Accepted: 09/05/2012] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
Over 80% of current anxiety studies employ one of the tests that were developed earlier than, or concurrently with the elevated plus-maze, i.e. before 1985. Considering 1985 as a historical reference point, we briefly review here 115 new tests and models of anxiety, the development of which was likely prompted by the poor predictive validity of classical tests as shown here by the comparison of preclinical and clinical findings with putative novel anxiolytics. The new approaches comprise major innovations to classical tests, the pre-test application of manipulations that mimic etiological factors of anxiety disorders, and entirely new approaches including anxiety disorder-specific tests. Thus, intensive test development over the last 27 years created a large pool of novel approaches. However, these are infrequently used and as such, their impact on anxiolytic drug development remains low. We suggest here that test/model development should step over the intensive phase when several new methods are proposed each year and should start selecting and establishing the methodologies that would successfully replace or complement classical tests. We propose here a novel strategy for improving the validity of anxiety testing that includes the retrospective analysis of the predictive validity of new procedures (as opposed to classical pharmacological validation), and a call for concerted international efforts at both the conceptual and practical levels. Similar endeavors proved recently successful with other psychiatric disorders.
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Sarkisova K, van Luijtelaar G. The WAG/Rij strain: a genetic animal model of absence epilepsy with comorbidity of depression [corrected]. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 2011; 35:854-76. [PMID: 21093520 DOI: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2010.11.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 133] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2010] [Revised: 09/28/2010] [Accepted: 11/09/2010] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
A great number of clinical observations show a relationship between epilepsy and depression. Idiopathic generalized epilepsy, including absence epilepsy, has a genetic basis. The review provides evidence that WAG/Rij rats can be regarded as a valid genetic animal model of absence epilepsy with comorbidity of depression. WAG/Rij rats, originally developed as an animal model of human absence epilepsy, share many EEG and behavioral characteristics resembling absence epilepsy in humans, including the similarity of action of various antiepileptic drugs. Behavioral studies indicate that WAG/Rij rats exhibit depression-like symptoms: decreased investigative activity in the open field test, increased immobility in the forced swimming test, and decreased sucrose consumption and preference (anhedonia). In addition, WAG/Rij rats adopt passive strategies in stressful situations, express some cognitive disturbances (reduced long-term memory), helplessness, and submissiveness, inability to make choice and overcome obstacles, which are typical for depressed patients. Elevated anxiety is not a characteristic (specific) feature of WAG/Rij rats; it is a characteristic for only a sub-strain of WAG/Rij rats susceptible to audiogenic seizures. Interestingly, WAG/Rij rats display a hyper-response to amphetamine similar to anhedonic depressed patients. WAG/Rij rats are sensitive only to chronic, but not acute, antidepressant treatments, suggesting that WAG/Rij rats fulfill a criterion of predictive validity for a putative animal model of depression. However, more and different antidepressant drugs still await evaluation. Depression-like behavioral symptoms in WAG/Rij rats are evident at baseline conditions, not exclusively after stress. Experiments with foot-shock stress do not point towards higher stress sensitivity at both behavioral and hormonal levels. However, freezing behavior (coping deficits) and blunted response of 5HT in the frontal cortex to uncontrollable sound stress, increased c-fos expression in the terminal regions of the meso-cortico-limbic brain systems and greater DA response of the mesolimbic system to forced swim stress suggest that WAG/Rij rats are vulnerable to some, but not to all types of stressors. We propose that genetic absence epileptic WAG/Rij rats have behavioral depression-like symptoms, are vulnerable to stress and might represent a model of chronic low-grade depression (dysthymia). Both 5HT and DAergic abnormalities detected in the brain of WAG/Rij rats are involved in modulation of vulnerability to stress and provocation of behavioral depression-like symptoms. The same neurotransmitter systems modulate SWDs as well. Recent studies suggest that the occurrence and repetition of absence seizures are a precipitant of depression-like behavior. Whether the neurochemical changes are primary to depression-like behavioral alterations remains to be determined. In conclusion, the WAG/Rij rats can be considered as a genetic animal model for absence epilepsy with comorbidity of dysthymia. This model can be used to investigate etiology, pathogenic mechanisms and treatment of a psychiatric comorbidity, such as depression in absence epilepsy, to reveal putative genes contributing to comorbid depressive disorder, and to screen novel psychotropic drugs with a selective and/or complex (dual) action on both pathologies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karine Sarkisova
- Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Butlerov str. 5a, Moscow 117485, Russia.
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Oh S, Chang CY, Baker RC, Ho IK. Phorbol Ester Differentiates the Levels of [3H]MK-801 Binding in Rats Lines Selected for Differential Sensitivity to the Hypnotic Effects of Ethanol. Neurochem Res 2005; 30:161-9. [PMID: 15895818 DOI: 10.1007/s11064-004-2437-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
These studies addressed the possible involvement between sensitivity to the hypnotic action of ethanol and function of the NMDA receptor. The studies were carried out using high-alcohol sensitive (HAS) and low-alcohol sensitive (LAS) rats, two rats having differential sensitivity to the acute hypnotic action of ethanol. The animal models were developed by a selective breeding experiment. Using a quantitative autoradiograph technique, it was demonstrated that [3H]MK-801 binding to the NMDA receptor was highest in hippocampus in both HAS and LAS rats, but significant [3H]MK-801 binding was also detected in cortex, caudate-putamen, and thalamus of HAS and LAS rats. The density of [3H]MK-801 binding was lower only in cerebellar granule layers of untreated HAS rats as compared to the same brain area in untreated LAS rats. Activation of protein kinase C (PKC) by 100 nM PDBu, increased [3H]MK-801 binding in cortex, caudate-putamen, thalamus, central gray, and cerebellum of HAS rats but activation of PKC did not influence [3H]MK-801 binding in LAS rats. These activation of PKC differentiates between [3H]MK-801 binding of HAS and LAS rats in frontal cortex (layer II-IV and cingulate), caudate-putamen, and ventral lateral thalamic nuclei. The basal level of PKC-gamma mRNA was higher in HAS rats than that of LAS rats. These results suggest that the activation of PKC potentiates NMDA receptor function of the rat line which is more sensitive to alcohol (HAS) but does not affect [3H]MK-801 binding of alcohol resistant (LAS) rats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seikwan Oh
- Department of Neuroscoence, College of Medicine and Medical Science Institute, Ewha University, Seoul 157-710, Korea.
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Abstract
The way genetic and/or environmental factors influence psychiatric disorders is an enduring question in the field of human psychiatric diseases. Anxiety-related disorders provide a relevant example of how such an interaction is involved in the aetiology of a psychiatric disease. In this paper we review the literature on that subject, reporting data derived from human and rodent studies. We present in a critical way the animal models used in the studies aimed at investigating the genetic basis of anxiety, including inbred mice, selected lines, multiple marker strains, or knockout mice and review data reporting environmental components influencing anxiety-related behaviours. We conclude that anxiety is a complex behaviour, underlined not only by genetic or environmental factors but also by multiple interactions between these two factors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yan Clément
- Université Reims Champagne-Ardenne, Taittinger, Reims Cedex, France
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Cory-Slechta DA, Crofton KM, Foran JA, Ross JF, Sheets LP, Weiss B, Mileson B. Methods to identify and characterize developmental neurotoxicity for human health risk assessment. I: behavioral effects. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES 2001; 109 Suppl 1:79-91. [PMID: 11250808 PMCID: PMC1240545 DOI: 10.1289/ehp.01109s179] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
Alterations in nervous system function after exposure to a developmental neurotoxicant may be identified and characterized using neurobehavioral methods. A number of methods can evaluate alterations in sensory, motor, and cognitive functions in laboratory animals exposed to toxicants during nervous system development. Fundamental issues underlying proper use and interpretation of these methods include a) consideration of the scientific goal in experimental design, b) selection of an appropriate animal model, c) expertise of the investigator, d) adequate statistical analysis, and e) proper data interpretation. Strengths and weaknesses of the assessment methods include sensitivity, selectivity, practicality, and variability. Research could improve current behavioral methods by providing a better understanding of the relationship between alterations in motor function and changes in the underlying structure of these systems. Research is also needed to develop simple and sensitive assays for use in screening assessments of sensory and cognitive function. Assessment methods are being developed to examine other nervous system functions, including social behavior, autonomic processes, and biologic rhythms. Social behaviors are modified by many classes of developmental neurotoxicants and hormonally active compounds that may act either through neuroendocrine mechanisms or by directly influencing brain morphology or neurochemistry. Autonomic and thermoregulatory functions have been the province of physiologists and neurobiologists rather than toxicologists, but this may change as developmental neurotoxicology progresses and toxicologists apply techniques developed by other disciplines to examine changes in function after toxicant exposure.
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Affiliation(s)
- D A Cory-Slechta
- Department of Environmental Medicine, University of Rochester Medical School, Rochester, New York, USA
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Okuyama S, Sakagawa T, Chaki S, Imagawa Y, Ichiki T, Inagami T. Anxiety-like behavior in mice lacking the angiotensin II type-2 receptor. Brain Res 1999; 821:150-9. [PMID: 10064799 DOI: 10.1016/s0006-8993(99)01098-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 85] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The main biological role of angiotensin II type 2 receptor (AT2) has not been established. We made use of targeted disruption of the mouse AT2 gene to examine the role of the AT2 receptor in the central nervous system (CNS). AT2-deficient mice displayed anxiety-like behavior compared with wild-type mice. However, AT2-deficient mice showed no depressant-like activity and no change in hexobarbital-induced sleeping time as compared with findings in wild-type mice. Both noradrenergic and corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) neuronal systems appear to be involved in this anxiety-like behavior. Diazepam, captopril (angiotensin I converting enzyme inhibitor), prazosin (alpha1 antagonist) reversed the anxiety-like behavior in these AT2-deficient mice, whereas yohimbine (alpha2 antagonist), phenylephrine (alpha1 agonist), clonidine (alpha2 agonist), isoproterenol (beta1/beta2 agonist), propranolol (beta1/beta2 antagonist) and alpha-helical CRF9-41 (CRF receptor antagonist) has no apparent effects on anxiety-like behavior in AT2-deficient mice. In addition, concentrations of plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and corticosterone in AT2-deficient mice did not differ from these in wild-type mice, hence, there are probably no endocrine abnormalities involving the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA). The amygdala appears to play an important role in many of the responses to fear and anxiety. The number of [3H]prazosin but not [125I]CRF binding sites in the amygdala was significantly reduced in AT2-deficient mice. These findings indicate that the noradrenergic system is involved in mediating the anxiety-like behavior in AT2-deficient mice.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Okuyama
- 1st Laboratory, Medicinal Research Laboratories, Taisho Pharmaceutical, 1-403, Yoshinocho, Ohmiya 330-8530, Japan
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Okuyama S, Sakagawa T, Inagami T. Role of the Angiotensin II Type-2 Receptor in the Mouse Central Nervous System. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 1999. [DOI: 10.1016/s0021-5198(19)30762-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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Nadal RA, Pallarés MA, Ferré NS. Oral intake of sweetened or sweetened alcoholic beverages and open-field behavior. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 1996; 54:739-43. [PMID: 8853198 DOI: 10.1016/0091-3057(95)02224-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
The relationship between the intake of sweetened alcoholic beverages and individual differences in an open field was assessed using an oral self-administration procedure in male Wistar rats (n = 41). After four sessions in the open field, rats were gradually reduced to 80% of their ad lib body weights over a 10-day period. Rats were then allowed to drink an alcohol-containing solution (10% v/v ethanol, 3% w/v glucose) (experimental group: n = 20) or a solution of glucose (3% w/v glucose) (control group: n = 21) for 1 h/day during 9 consecutive days. Experimental rats were divided into two groups on the basis of the mean daily ethanol dose ingested (g/kg/h) in the nine sessions. The high ethanol-consuming (HEI rats), when compared with the low ethanol-consuming rats (LEI rats), only showed a tendency (p = 0.062) towards fewer global number of rearings in the open field. No relationship between open-field defecation and ethanol intake was observed. With regard to the control rats, the higher consuming also showed lower number of rearings in the open field, similarly to the experimental rats. When we divided all experimental or control rats into two subgroups on the basis of the mean daily tap-water ingested during 23 h/day, no differences in the number of rearings were found. The results suggest that rearing in a novel environment could be a predictor of susceptibility to reinforcement by sweetened or palatable beverages.
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Affiliation(s)
- R A Nadal
- Area de Psicobiologia, Facultat de Psicologia, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain
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Files FJ, Samson HH, Brice GT, Deitrich RA, Draski LJ. Initiation of ethanol self-administration by the sucrose-substitution method with HAS and LAS rats. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 1996; 20:677-81. [PMID: 8800384 DOI: 10.1111/j.1530-0277.1996.tb01671.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
This study was performed to examine ethanol self-administration in rats bred for different sensitivities to the sedative effects of alcohol [the Colorado High Alcohol Sensitive (HAS) and Low Alcohol Sensitive (LAS) rats]. Four rats from each replicate line of the HAS and LAS rats (n = 16) were obtained from the University of Colorado, and initiation to self-administer ethanol by the sucrose-substitution procedure was attempted. Before the initiation procedure was conducted, home-cage ethanol intake and preference ratio did not differ between LAS and HAS rats. During the initiation procedure, the LAS rats came to self-administer 10% ethanol (v/v) at similar levels as outbred Wistar rats initiated with the same procedure (approximately 0.4 g/kg/session). The HAS rats, however, failed to initiate (approximately 0.08 g/kg/ session after completing the sucrose-substitution procedure) and lever pressing was reduced even more in the HAS rats when the ethanol concentration presented was > 10% (v/v). Three of the eight HAS rats stopped lever pressing completely when the ethanol concentration was raised to 15%. After initiation, home-cage preference ratio differed significantly between the LAS and HAS rats (LAS > HAS, p < 0.03). That the LAS rats did not consume greater amounts of ethanol compared with outbred Long-Evans or Wistar rats is contrary to our hypothesis, based on recent human data suggesting that a lower sensitivity to ethanol could result in increased alcohol intake. The finding that the HAS rats could not be initiated, while selectively bred ethanol nonpreferring rats can, is also contrary to our hypothesis. Further studies related to ethanol self-administration with the HAS line could provide important information related to the genetics of alcohol nonacceptance.
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Affiliation(s)
- F J Files
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157-1083, USA
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