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Oliveras I, Cañete T, Sampedro-Viana D, Río-Álamos C, Tobeña A, Corda MG, Giorgi O, Fernández-Teruel A. Neurobehavioral Profiles of Six Genetically-based Rat Models of Schizophrenia- related Symptoms. Curr Neuropharmacol 2023; 21:1934-1952. [PMID: 36809938 PMCID: PMC10514524 DOI: 10.2174/1570159x21666230221093644] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2022] [Revised: 11/02/2022] [Accepted: 11/28/2022] [Indexed: 02/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Schizophrenia is a chronic and severe mental disorder with high heterogeneity in its symptoms clusters. The effectiveness of drug treatments for the disorder is far from satisfactory. It is widely accepted that research with valid animal models is essential if we aim at understanding its genetic/ neurobiological mechanisms and finding more effective treatments. The present article presents an overview of six genetically-based (selectively-bred) rat models/strains, which exhibit neurobehavioral schizophrenia-relevant features, i.e., the Apomorphine-susceptible (APO-SUS) rats, the Low-prepulse inhibition rats, the Brattleboro (BRAT) rats, the Spontaneously Hypertensive rats (SHR), the Wisket rats and the Roman High-Avoidance (RHA) rats. Strikingly, all the strains display impairments in prepulse inhibition of the startle response (PPI), which remarkably, in most cases are associated with novelty-induced hyperlocomotion, deficits of social behavior, impairment of latent inhibition and cognitive flexibility, or signs of impaired prefrontal cortex (PFC) function. However, only three of the strains share PPI deficits and dopaminergic (DAergic) psychostimulant-induced hyperlocomotion (together with prefrontal cortex dysfunction in two models, the APO-SUS and RHA), which points out that alterations of the mesolimbic DAergic circuit are a schizophrenia-linked trait that not all models reproduce, but it characterizes some strains that can be valid models of schizophrenia-relevant features and drug-addiction vulnerability (and thus, dual diagnosis). We conclude by putting the research based on these genetically-selected rat models in the context of the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) framework, suggesting that RDoC-oriented research programs using selectively-bred strains might help to accelerate progress in the various aspects of the schizophrenia-related research agenda.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ignasi Oliveras
- Medical Psychology Unit, Department of Psychiatry and Forensic Medicine & Institute of Neurosciences, School of Medicine, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Bellaterra, Barcelona, 08193, Spain
| | - Toni Cañete
- Medical Psychology Unit, Department of Psychiatry and Forensic Medicine & Institute of Neurosciences, School of Medicine, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Bellaterra, Barcelona, 08193, Spain
| | - Daniel Sampedro-Viana
- Medical Psychology Unit, Department of Psychiatry and Forensic Medicine & Institute of Neurosciences, School of Medicine, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Bellaterra, Barcelona, 08193, Spain
| | | | - Adolf Tobeña
- Medical Psychology Unit, Department of Psychiatry and Forensic Medicine & Institute of Neurosciences, School of Medicine, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Bellaterra, Barcelona, 08193, Spain
| | - Maria Giuseppa Corda
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences (DiSVA), University of Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy
| | - Osvaldo Giorgi
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences (DiSVA), University of Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy
| | - Alberto Fernández-Teruel
- Medical Psychology Unit, Department of Psychiatry and Forensic Medicine & Institute of Neurosciences, School of Medicine, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Bellaterra, Barcelona, 08193, Spain
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Schatz KC, Kyne RF, Parmeter SL, Paul MJ. Investigation of social, affective, and locomotor behavior of adolescent Brattleboro rats reveals a link between vasopressin's actions on arousal and social behavior. Horm Behav 2018; 106:1-9. [PMID: 30184461 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2018.08.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2018] [Revised: 08/22/2018] [Accepted: 08/31/2018] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
Arginine vasopressin (AVP) has recently been implicated in juvenile and adolescent social development. How AVP influences social development, however, is not understood. Adolescent homozygous Brattleboro rats (Hom), which lack AVP due to a mutation in the Avp gene, exhibit fewer active social behaviors (e.g., social play) but more passive social behaviors (e.g., huddling) than their wild type and heterozygous (Het) littermates, raising the possibility that AVP impacts social development through an arousal mechanism. Here, we test whether the atypical social phenotype of adolescent Hom rats is associated with altered behavioral arousal, social approach, or affective behaviors and whether Brattleboro mothers impact these behavioral phenotypes. Male and female Het and Hom adolescents born to Het or Hom mothers were tested in social interaction, open field, novelty-seeking, social approach, and marble burying tests. As reported previously, Hom rats played less and emitted fewer 50 kHz ultrasonic vocalizations while huddling more than their Het littermates. No genotype differences were detected in novelty seeking or social approach, nor were consistent differences found between offspring from Het and Hom mothers. However, Hom rats were less active in the open field and buried fewer marbles than Het rats indicating a hypoaroused, low anxiety phenotype. Open field activity correlated with levels of social play indicating that the effects of the Brattleboro mutation on arousal and social behavior are linked. These data demonstrate that chronic AVP deficiency impacts behavioral arousal during adolescence and support the hypothesis that AVP influences adolescent social development, in part, through its regulation of arousal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kelcie C Schatz
- Department of Psychology, University at Buffalo, SUNY, Buffalo, NY 14260, USA.
| | - Robert F Kyne
- Neuroscience Program, University at Buffalo, SUNY, Buffalo, NY 14260, USA.
| | | | - Matthew J Paul
- Department of Psychology, University at Buffalo, SUNY, Buffalo, NY 14260, USA; Neuroscience Program, University at Buffalo, SUNY, Buffalo, NY 14260, USA; Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior Program, University at Buffalo, SUNY, Buffalo, NY 14260, USA.
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Yang X, Tang Y, Wei Q, Lang B, Tao H, Zhang X, Liu Y, Tang A. Up-regulated expression of oxytocin mRNA in peripheral blood lymphocytes from first-episode schizophrenia patients. Oncotarget 2017; 8:78882-78889. [PMID: 29108272 PMCID: PMC5668005 DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.20252] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2017] [Accepted: 07/25/2017] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Schizophrenia (SZ) is a severe neuropsychiatric disorder with significant social cognition impairment. Increasing evidence has suggested that neuropeptides oxytocin (OXT) and arginine vasopressin (AVP) are important mediators of complex social cognition and behavior associates with SZ. In the present study, forty-three first-episode schizophrenia (FES) patients and forty-seven healthy controls (HC) were included. The peripheral mRNA expression of OXT, OXT receptor (OXTR), AVP, AVP 1a receptor (AVPR1a) and CD38 was determined by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). The FES patients have a relatively higher mRNA level of OXT and OXTR genes and lower expression of AVP and CD38 genes than HC. No difference was found for AVPR1a between FES patients and HC. As for the sex difference, the mRNA expression of OXT and OXTR showed no difference in both male and female FES patients compared to HC group. The AVP and CD38 genes in female FES patients showed decreased mRNA expression than female HC. Our findings support disrupted OXT and AVP systems in the FES patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiudeng Yang
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410011, China
| | - Yamei Tang
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410011, China
| | - Qinling Wei
- Department of Psychiatry, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510631, China
| | - Bing Lang
- Department of Psychiatry, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410011, China, Mental Health Institute of Central South University & Hunan Key Laboratory of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Changsha, China, China National Clinical Research Center on Mental Disorders (Xiangya) & China National Technology Institute on Mental Disorders, China
| | - Huai Tao
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, Hunan 410208, China
| | - Xianghui Zhang
- Department of Psychiatry, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410011, China, Mental Health Institute of Central South University & Hunan Key Laboratory of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Changsha, China, China National Clinical Research Center on Mental Disorders (Xiangya) & China National Technology Institute on Mental Disorders, China
| | - Yong Liu
- Department of Psychiatry, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410011, China, Mental Health Institute of Central South University & Hunan Key Laboratory of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Changsha, China, China National Clinical Research Center on Mental Disorders (Xiangya) & China National Technology Institute on Mental Disorders, China
| | - Aiguo Tang
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410011, China
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Feifel D, Shilling PD, Fazlinejad AA, Melendez G. Antipsychotic drug-like facilitation of latent inhibition by a brain-penetrating neurotensin-1 receptor agonist. J Psychopharmacol 2016; 30:312-7. [PMID: 26783230 DOI: 10.1177/0269881115625360] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Latent inhibition (LI) is a measure of cognitive gating and refers to reduced conditioned learning when there is pre-exposure to the conditioned stimulus (CS) before it is paired with the unconditioned stimulus (US). Dysregulation of LI is associated with some neuropsychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia, and the ability to facilitate LI in rodents is a reasonably good predictive test for antipsychotic drugs. Converging evidence supports neurotensin-1 receptor (NTS1) agonists as novel drugs for schizophrenia. Therefore, we investigated the ability of a brain-penetrating, selective NTS1 agonist, PD149163, to facilitate LI in heterozygous Brattleboro rats, a strain that exhibits naturally low LI. Conditioned taste aversion to flavored water (FW; 0.1% saccharin) was induced by pairing it with malaise-inducing injections of lithium chloride (LiCl). Prior to LiCl-FW pairing, rats received subcutaneous injections of saline, or PD149163 (100 µg/kg or 200 µg/kg). Half the rats in each drug group had been allowed to drink FW the day before the LiCl-FW pairing (pre-exposed rats). Two days after pairing, the amount of FW each rat consumed was recorded. LI, defined as significantly greater FW drinking in the pre-exposed group compared with the non pre-exposed group, was exhibited only among rats that received 200 µg/kg of PD149163. These results further support NTS1 agonists as potentially novel drugs for the treatment of schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- D Feifel
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - P D Shilling
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - A A Fazlinejad
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - G Melendez
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA
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Demeter K, Török B, Fodor A, Varga J, Ferenczi S, Kovács KJ, Eszik I, Szegedi V, Zelena D. Possible contribution of epigenetic changes in the development of schizophrenia-like behavior in vasopressin-deficient Brattleboro rats. Behav Brain Res 2016; 300:123-34. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2015.12.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2015] [Revised: 12/04/2015] [Accepted: 12/09/2015] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
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Martin TJ, Grigg A, Kim SA, Ririe DG, Eisenach JC. Assessment of attention threshold in rats by titration of visual cue duration during the five choice serial reaction time task. J Neurosci Methods 2014; 241:37-43. [PMID: 25528113 DOI: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2014.12.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2014] [Revised: 12/05/2014] [Accepted: 12/10/2014] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The 5 choice serial reaction time task (5CSRTT) is commonly used to assess attention in rodents. We sought to develop a variant of the 5CSRTT that would speed training to objective success criteria, and to test whether this variant could determine attention capability in each subject. NEW METHOD Fisher 344 rats were trained to perform a variant of the 5CSRTT in which the duration of visual cue presentation (cue duration) was titrated between trials based upon performance. The cue duration was decreased when the subject made a correct response, or increased with incorrect responses or omissions. Additionally, test day challenges were provided consisting of lengthening the intertrial interval and inclusion of a visual distracting stimulus. RESULTS Rats readily titrated the cue duration to less than 1s in 25 training sessions or less (mean±SEM, 22.9±0.7), and the median cue duration (MCD) was calculated as a measure of attention threshold. Increasing the intertrial interval increased premature responses, decreased the number of trials completed, and increased the MCD. Decreasing the intertrial interval and time allotted for consuming the food reward demonstrated that a minimum of 3.5s is required for rats to consume two food pellets and successfully attend to the next trial. Visual distraction in the form of a 3Hz flashing light increased the MCD and both premature and time out responses. COMPARISON WITH EXISTING METHOD The titration variant of the 5CSRTT is a useful method that dynamically measures attention threshold across a wide range of subject performance, and significantly decreases the time required for training. Task challenges produce similar effects in the titration method as reported for the classical procedure. CONCLUSIONS The titration 5CSRTT method is an efficient training procedure for assessing attention and can be utilized to assess the limit in performance ability across subjects and various schedule manipulations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas J Martin
- Pain Mechanisms Lab, Dept. of Anesthesiology, Wake Forest University Health Sciences, Medical Center Blvd, Winston-Salem, NC 27157, USA.
| | - Amanda Grigg
- Pain Mechanisms Lab, Dept. of Anesthesiology, Wake Forest University Health Sciences, Medical Center Blvd, Winston-Salem, NC 27157, USA
| | - Susy A Kim
- Pain Mechanisms Lab, Dept. of Anesthesiology, Wake Forest University Health Sciences, Medical Center Blvd, Winston-Salem, NC 27157, USA
| | - Douglas G Ririe
- Pain Mechanisms Lab, Dept. of Anesthesiology, Wake Forest University Health Sciences, Medical Center Blvd, Winston-Salem, NC 27157, USA
| | - James C Eisenach
- Pain Mechanisms Lab, Dept. of Anesthesiology, Wake Forest University Health Sciences, Medical Center Blvd, Winston-Salem, NC 27157, USA
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Engle-Friedman M. The effects of sleep loss on capacity and effort. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2014; 7:213-24. [PMID: 26483932 PMCID: PMC4608917 DOI: 10.1016/j.slsci.2014.11.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2014] [Accepted: 10/06/2014] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Sleep loss appears to affect the capacity for performance and access to energetic resources. This paper reviews research examining the physical substrates referred to as resource capacity, the role of sleep in protecting that capacity and the reaction of the system as it attempts to respond with effort to overcome the limitations on capacity caused by sleep loss. Effort is the extent to which an organism will exert itself beyond basic levels of functioning or attempt alternative strategies to maintain performance. The purpose of this review is to bring together research across sleep disciplines to clarify the substrates that constitute and influence capacity for performance, consider how the loss of sleep influences access to those resources, examine cortical, physiological, perceptual, behavioral and subjective effort responses and consider how these responses reflect a system reacting to changes in the resource environment. When sleep deprived, the ability to perform tasks that require additional energy is impaired and the ability of the system to overcome the deficiencies caused by sleep loss is limited. Taking on tasks that require effort including school work, meal preparation, pulling off the road to nap when driving drowsy appear to be more challenging during sleep loss. Sleep loss impacts the effort-related choices we make and those choices may influence our health and safety.
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Fodor A, Barsvari B, Aliczki M, Balogh Z, Zelena D, Goldberg SR, Haller J. The effects of vasopressin deficiency on aggression and impulsiveness in male and female rats. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2014; 47:141-50. [PMID: 25001964 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2014.05.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2014] [Revised: 05/19/2014] [Accepted: 05/19/2014] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
The role of vasopressin in aggression received much attention in recent years. However, vasopressin has complex roles on social behavior, which are affected by social experience, motivation and hormonal background, suggesting that its effects depend on the condition of subjects. This hypothesis was tested here by studying the impact of vasopressin deficiency on aggressiveness in reproductively naive and reproductively experienced males, as well as in lactating females, with special reference to the patterns and contexts of attack behavior. We also studied effects on impulsiveness, a behavioral feature strongly related to aggression. Vasopressin deficiency did not affect aggressiveness in reproductively experienced males, decreased the share of violent attacks in reproductively inexperienced males without affecting total attack counts, and suppressed maternal aggression in both early and late phases of lactation; violent forms of attack were decreased in the latter but not the former phase. Changes in aggression appeared unrelated to general changes in maternal behaviors. Impulsivity in the delay discounting task was markedly decreased by vasopressin deficiency in lactating females but not males. Taken together, our findings confirm that vasopressin has an impact on aggressiveness, but show that this impact depends on the condition of subjects, and suggest that the effects of vasopressin on maternal aggression develop in conjunction with impulsivity. Interestingly, overall effects on aggression and specific effects on violent attacks dissociated in both males and females, which hints to the possibility that vasopressin has distinct roles in the development of escalated forms of aggression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Fodor
- Department of Behavioural Neurobiology, Institute of Experimental Medicine, Hungarian Academy of Science, Budapest, Hungary; Janos Szentagothai School of Neurosciences, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Beata Barsvari
- Department of Behavioural Neurobiology, Institute of Experimental Medicine, Hungarian Academy of Science, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Mano Aliczki
- Department of Behavioural Neurobiology, Institute of Experimental Medicine, Hungarian Academy of Science, Budapest, Hungary.
| | - Zoltan Balogh
- Department of Behavioural Neurobiology, Institute of Experimental Medicine, Hungarian Academy of Science, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Dora Zelena
- Department of Behavioural Neurobiology, Institute of Experimental Medicine, Hungarian Academy of Science, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Steven R Goldberg
- Department of Health and Human Services, Preclinical Pharmacology Section, Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, Biomedical Research Center, Baltimore, USA
| | - Jozsef Haller
- Department of Behavioural Neurobiology, Institute of Experimental Medicine, Hungarian Academy of Science, Budapest, Hungary
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Río CD, Oliveras I, Cañete T, Blázquez G, Tobeña A, Fernández-Teruel A. Genetic Rat Models of Schizophrenia-Relevant Symptoms. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2014. [DOI: 10.4236/wjns.2014.43030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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