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Albrechet-Souza L, Schratz CL, Gilpin NW. Sex differences in traumatic stress reactivity in rats with and without a history of alcohol drinking. Biol Sex Differ 2020; 11:27. [PMID: 32393336 PMCID: PMC7216391 DOI: 10.1186/s13293-020-00303-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2019] [Accepted: 04/24/2020] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Alcohol misuse and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are highly comorbid, and treatment outcomes are worse in individuals with both conditions. Although more men report experiencing traumatic events than women, the lifetime prevalence of PTSD is twice as high in females. Despite these data trends in humans, preclinical studies of traumatic stress reactivity have been performed almost exclusively in male animals. METHODS This study was designed to examine sex differences in traumatic stress reactivity in alcohol-naive rats (experiment 1) and rats given intermittent access to 20% ethanol in a 2-bottle choice paradigm for 5 weeks (experiment 2). Animals were exposed to predator odor (bobcat urine) and tested for contextual avoidance 24 h later; unstressed controls were never exposed to predator odor. We evaluated changes in physiological arousal using the acoustic startle response (ASR) test at day 2 post-stress and anxiety-like behavior measured in the elevated plus-maze (EPM) at day 17 post-stress. In experiment 3, time course of corticosterone response was examined in male and female rats following exposure to predator odor stress. RESULTS Alcohol-naive males and females exposed to predator odor displayed blunted weight gain 24 h post-stress, but only a subset of stressed animals exhibited avoidance behavior. In alcohol-drinking animals, the proportion of avoiders was higher in males than females, and predator odor exposure increased ASR in males only. Stressed females exhibited blunted ASR relative to unstressed females and stressed males, regardless of alcohol drinking history. Alcohol-experienced females presented lower anxiety-like behavior and higher general activity in the EPM in comparison with alcohol-experienced males. Plasma corticosterone levels were higher in females immediately after predator odor exposure until 60 min post-stress relative to males. CONCLUSIONS We report robust sex differences in behavioral and endocrine responses to bobcat urine exposure in adult Wistar rats. Also, males with a history of chronic moderate alcohol drinking exhibited increased traumatic stress reactivity relative to alcohol-drinking females. Our findings emphasize the importance of considering sex as a biological variable in the investigation of traumatic stress effects on physiology and behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucas Albrechet-Souza
- Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA, USA. .,Alcohol & Drug Center of Excellence, School of Medicine, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA, USA.
| | - Connor L Schratz
- Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA, USA
| | - Nicholas W Gilpin
- Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA, USA.,Alcohol & Drug Center of Excellence, School of Medicine, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA, USA.,Neuroscience Center of Excellence, School of Medicine, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA, USA.,Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System (SLVHCS), New Orleans, LA, USA
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Sheynin J, Beck KD, Pang KCH, Servatius RJ, Shikari S, Ostovich J, Myers CE. Behaviourally inhibited temperament and female sex, two vulnerability factors for anxiety disorders, facilitate conditioned avoidance (also) in humans. Behav Processes 2014; 103:228-35. [PMID: 24412263 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2014.01.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2013] [Revised: 12/16/2013] [Accepted: 01/02/2014] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Acquisition and maintenance of avoidance behaviour is a key feature of all human anxiety disorders. Animal models have been useful in understanding how anxiety vulnerability could translate into avoidance learning. For example, behaviourally inhibited temperament and female sex, two vulnerability factors for clinical anxiety, are associated with faster acquisition of avoidance responses in rodents. However, to date, the translation of such empirical data to human populations has been limited since many features of animal avoidance paradigms are not typically captured in human research. Here, using a computer-based task that captures many features of rodent escape-avoidance learning paradigms, we investigated whether avoidance learning would be faster in humans with inhibited temperament and/or female sex and, if so, whether this facilitation would take the same form. Results showed that, as in rats, both vulnerability factors were associated with facilitated acquisition of avoidance behaviour in humans. Specifically, inhibited temperament was associated with higher rate of avoidance responding, while female sex was associated with longer avoidance duration. These findings strengthen the direct link between animal avoidance work and human anxiety vulnerability, further motivating the study of animal models while also providing a simple testbed for a direct human testing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jony Sheynin
- Department of Veterans Affairs, New Jersey Health Care System, East Orange, NJ, USA; Joint Biomedical Engineering Program, New Jersey Institute of Technology and Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Newark, NJ, USA; Stress & Motivated Behavior Institute, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Newark, NJ, USA.
| | - Kevin D Beck
- Department of Veterans Affairs, New Jersey Health Care System, East Orange, NJ, USA; Joint Biomedical Engineering Program, New Jersey Institute of Technology and Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Newark, NJ, USA; Stress & Motivated Behavior Institute, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Newark, NJ, USA.
| | - Kevin C H Pang
- Department of Veterans Affairs, New Jersey Health Care System, East Orange, NJ, USA; Joint Biomedical Engineering Program, New Jersey Institute of Technology and Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Newark, NJ, USA; Stress & Motivated Behavior Institute, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Newark, NJ, USA.
| | - Richard J Servatius
- Department of Veterans Affairs, New Jersey Health Care System, East Orange, NJ, USA; Joint Biomedical Engineering Program, New Jersey Institute of Technology and Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Newark, NJ, USA; Stress & Motivated Behavior Institute, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Newark, NJ, USA.
| | - Saima Shikari
- Honors College, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Newark, NJ, USA.
| | - Jacqueline Ostovich
- Honors College, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Newark, NJ, USA.
| | - Catherine E Myers
- Department of Veterans Affairs, New Jersey Health Care System, East Orange, NJ, USA; Stress & Motivated Behavior Institute, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Newark, NJ, USA; Department of Psychology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Newark, NJ, USA.
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Gonzales M, Garrett C, Chapman CD, Dess NK. Stress-induced attenuation of acoustic startle in low-saccharin-consuming rats. Biol Psychol 2008; 79:193-9. [PMID: 18538914 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2008.04.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2007] [Revised: 04/21/2008] [Accepted: 04/25/2008] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Exposure to stress can lead to either increased stress vulnerability or enhanced resiliency. Laboratory rats are a key tool in the exploration of basic biobehavioral processes underlying individual differences in the effect of stress on subsequent stressors' impact. The Occidental low (LoS) and high (HiS) saccharin-consuming rats, which differ in emotional reactivity, are useful in this effort. In the present study, footshock affected acoustic startle amplitude 4 h later among LoS but not HiS rats. Surprisingly, shock attenuated startle rather than sensitizing it, a finding not previously reported for male rats exposed to shock. Attenuation was blocked by administering the anxiolytic drug alprazolam prior to stress, implicating anxiety in the effect. Preliminary tests provided no evidence of mediation by adenosine or corticosterone. This novel result encourages further study of the stressor and dispositional variables that modulate the timecourse of effects of stress on startle and identification of its mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mitzi Gonzales
- Department of Psychology, Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA 90041, USA
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Beck KD, Jiao X, Cominski TP, Servatius RJ. Estrus cycle stage modifies the presentation of stress-induced startle suppression in female Sprague-Dawley rats. Physiol Behav 2008; 93:1019-23. [PMID: 18281068 DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2008.01.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2007] [Revised: 12/12/2007] [Accepted: 01/11/2008] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Tailshock stress causes transient reductions in startle reactivity, associative learning and open field activity in female rats in an ovarian hormone dependent manner. Others have shown estrogen modulation of associative learning by testing across the estrus cycle and pharmacological manipulations. Here we tested whether stress-induced suppression of startle reactivity can be attributed to circulating ovarian hormones. Female rats were tracked across the estrus cycle and subjected to the stressor (2 h periodic tailshock) the morning of diestrus, proestrus, estrus, or metestrus. Startle reactivity was tested 2 h following the cessation of the tailshock. Using a multi-stimulus protocol, we determined there were differences in startle sensitivity and responsivity. Following stressor exposure, estrus females exhibited reduced startle responsivity. In contrast, diestrus females exhibited increased sensitivity to the lowest acoustic stimulus. The results are discussed with respect to ovarian hormone regulation of the immune system and sensory reactivity during and following trauma that may lead to different abnormal behaviors in females in the wake of traumatic stress.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kevin D Beck
- Neurobehavioral Research Laboratory (129), Veterans Affairs New Jersey Health Care System, East Orange, NJ 07018, United States.
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Beck KD, Servatius RJ. Interleukin-1beta as a Mechanism for Stress-Induced Startle Suppression in Females. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2006; 1071:534-7. [PMID: 16891613 DOI: 10.1196/annals.1364.058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
Startle measures were taken 2 h following a systemic injection of interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) (3 microg/kg) to intact or ovariectomy (OVX) female rats. Changes in startle responsivity (reduced startle magnitude) were evident in intact IL-1beta-treated rats, despite no significant effects on startle sensitivity (number of elicited startles). No significant changes in startle sensitivity or responsivity were evident in IL-1beta-treated OVX rats. These results are discussed as a possible mechanism for stress-induced suppression of startle responsivity seen in intact female rats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kevin D Beck
- Neurobehavioral Research Laboratory (129), East Orange VA Medical Center, 385 Tremont Ave., East Orange, NJ 07018, USA.
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