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Ji MT, Pashankar N, Harter AM, Nemesh M, Przybyl KJ, Mulligan MK, Chen H, Redei EE. Limited WKY chromosomal regions confer increases in anxiety and fear memory in a F344 congenic rat strain. Physiol Genomics 2024; 56:327-342. [PMID: 38314698 DOI: 10.1152/physiolgenomics.00114.2023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2023] [Revised: 01/16/2024] [Accepted: 01/29/2024] [Indexed: 02/07/2024] Open
Abstract
This study investigated the interaction between genetic differences in stress reactivity/coping and environmental challenges, such as acute stress during adolescence on adult contextual fear memory and anxiety-like behaviors. Fischer 344 (F344) and the inbred F344;WKY-Stresp3/Eer congenic strain (congenic), in which chromosomal regions from the Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) strain were introgressed into the F344 background, were exposed to a modified forced swim test during adolescence, while controls were undisturbed. In adulthood, fear learning and memory, assessed by contextual fear conditioning, were significantly greater in congenic animals compared with F344 animals, and stress during adolescence increased them even further in males of both strains. Anxiety-like behavior, measured by the open field test, was also greater in congenic than F344 animals, and stress during adolescence increased it further in both strains of adult males. Whole genome sequencing of the F344;WKY-Stresp3/Eer strain revealed an enrichment of WKY genotypes in chromosomes 9, 14, and 15. An example of functional WKY sequence variations in the congenic strain, cannabinoid receptor interacting protein 1 (Cnrip1) had a Cnrip1 transcript isoform that lacked two exons. Although the original hypothesis that the genetic predisposition to increased anxiety of the WKY donor strain would exaggerate fear memory relative to the background strain was confirmed, the consequences of adolescent stress were strain independent but sex dependent in adulthood. Molecular genomic approaches combined with genetic mapping of WKY sequence variations in chromosomes 9, 14, and 15 could aid in finding quantitative trait genes contributing to the variation in fear memory.NEW & NOTEWORTHY This study found that 1) whole genome sequencing of congenic strains should be a criterion for their recognition; 2) sequence variations between Wistar-Kyoto and Fischer 344 strains at regions of chromosomes 9, 14, and 15 contribute to differences in contextual fear memory and anxiety-like behaviors; and 3) stress during adolescence affects these behaviors in males, but not females, and is independent of strain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michelle T Ji
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, United States
| | - Neha Pashankar
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, United States
| | - Aspen M Harter
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, United States
| | - Mariya Nemesh
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, United States
| | - Katherine J Przybyl
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, United States
| | - Megan K Mulligan
- Department of Genetics, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, Tennessee, United States
| | - Hao Chen
- Department of Pharmacology, Addiction Science, and Toxicology, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, Tennessee, United States
| | - Eva E Redei
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, United States
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Redei EE, Udell ME, Solberg Woods LC, Chen H. The Wistar Kyoto Rat: A Model of Depression Traits. Curr Neuropharmacol 2023; 21:1884-1905. [PMID: 36453495 PMCID: PMC10514523 DOI: 10.2174/1570159x21666221129120902] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2022] [Revised: 09/19/2022] [Accepted: 10/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
There is an ongoing debate about the value of animal research in psychiatry with valid lines of reasoning stating the limits of individual animal models compared to human psychiatric illnesses. Human depression is not a homogenous disorder; therefore, one cannot expect a single animal model to reflect depression heterogeneity. This limited review presents arguments that the Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rats show intrinsic depression traits. The phenotypes of WKY do not completely mirror those of human depression but clearly indicate characteristics that are common with it. WKYs present despair- like behavior, passive coping with stress, comorbid anxiety, and enhanced drug use compared to other routinely used inbred or outbred strains of rats. The commonly used tests identifying these phenotypes reflect exploratory, escape-oriented, and withdrawal-like behaviors. The WKYs consistently choose withdrawal or avoidance in novel environments and freezing behaviors in response to a challenge in these tests. The physiological response to a stressful environment is exaggerated in WKYs. Selective breeding generated two WKY substrains that are nearly isogenic but show clear behavioral differences, including that of depression-like behavior. WKY and its substrains may share characteristics of subgroups of depressed individuals with social withdrawal, low energy, weight loss, sleep disturbances, and specific cognitive dysfunction. The genomes of the WKY and WKY substrains contain variations that impact the function of many genes identified in recent human genetic studies of depression. Thus, these strains of rats share characteristics of human depression at both phenotypic and genetic levels, making them a model of depression traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eva E. Redei
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Mallory E. Udell
- Department of Pharmacology, Addiction Science, and Toxicology, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Leah C. Solberg Woods
- Section on Molecular Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA
| | - Hao Chen
- Department of Pharmacology, Addiction Science, and Toxicology, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA
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Zhu D, Zhang M, He B, Wan Y, Wang L, Gao F. The role of sex and ovarian hormones in hippocampal damage and cognitive deficits induced by chronic exposure to hypobaric hypoxia. Front Neurosci 2022; 16:953417. [PMID: 36003965 PMCID: PMC9393425 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.953417] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2022] [Accepted: 07/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Purpose This study aims to investigate the role of sex and ovarian hormones in hippocampal damage and cognitive deficits and behavioral dysfunction in rats induced by chronic exposure to hypobaric hypoxia. Methods Six-week-old male and female SD rats were housed for 3 months either in a real altitude (4,250 m) environment as the model of chronic hypobaric-hypoxia (CHH) or in a plain as controls. The animal behavioral and hippocampal neurons at subcellular, molecular, and ultrastructural levels were characterized after CHH exposure. Results After 3 months of CHH exposure, (1) male CHH rats’ serum testosterone level was lower than male controls’ whereas female CHH rats’ serum estradiol level was higher than female controls’; (2) Morris water maze test finds that male rats showed more learning and spatial memory deficits than female rats; (3) male rats showed more severe hippocampal damage, hippocampal inflammation, oxidative stress and decreased hippocampal integrity (neurogenesis and dendritic spine density) than female rats; (4) Western blot analysis shows that, compared with the male control group, in male CHH group’s hippocampus, expression of nNOS, HO-1, and Bax protein increased whereas that of Bcl-2 protein decreased; (5) Expression of PON2 protein in male rats (CHH and controls) was lower than female rats (CHH and controls). In addition, CHH exposure decreased the expression of PON2 protein in both male and female rats; (6) qPCR analysis reveals that CHH exposure reduced the gene expression of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor NR2A and NR2B subunits in male rats’ hippocampus. In addition, compared with the sham CHH group, the expression level of PON2 protein decreased in the OVX-CHH group’s hippocampus whereas oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, and degeneration of hippocampal neurons increased in the OVX-CHH group’s hippocampus. Conclusion After CHH exposure, male rats were significantly more likely than female rats to develop hippocampal damage, hippocampal neuroinflammation, and cognitive decline and deficits, suggesting that sex and ovarian hormones were significantly involved in regulating the rats’ susceptibility to CHH exposure-induced hippocampal damage.
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Kim S, Gacek SA, Mocchi MM, Redei EE. Sex-Specific Behavioral Response to Early Adolescent Stress in the Genetically More Stress-Reactive Wistar Kyoto More Immobile, and Its Nearly Isogenic Wistar Kyoto Less Immobile Control Strain. Front Behav Neurosci 2022; 15:779036. [PMID: 34970127 PMCID: PMC8713037 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2021.779036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2021] [Accepted: 11/26/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Genetic predisposition and environmental stress are known etiologies of stress-related psychiatric disorders. Environmental stress during adolescence is assumed to be particularly detrimental for adult affective behaviors. To investigate how genetic stress-reactivity differences modify the effects of stress during adolescence on adult affective behaviors we employed two inbred strains with differing stress reactivity. The Wistar Kyoto More Immobile (WMI) rat strain show increased stress-reactivity and despair-like behaviors as well as passive coping compared to the nearly isogenic control strain, the Wistar Kyoto Less Immobile (WLI). Males and females of these strains were exposed to contextual fear conditioning (CFC) during early adolescence (EA), between 32 and 34 postnatal days (PND), and were tested for the consequences of this mild EA stress in adulthood. Early adolescent stress significantly decreased anxiety-like behavior, measured in the open field test (OFT) and increased social interaction and recognition in adult males of both strains compared to controls. In contrast, no significant effects of EA stress were observed in adult females in these behaviors. Both males and females of the genetically less stress-reactive WLI strain showed significantly increased immobility in the forced swim test (FST) after EA stress compared to controls. In contrast, immobility was significantly attenuated by EA stress in adult WMI females compared to controls. Transcriptomic changes of the glucocorticoid receptor (Nr3c1, GR) and the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (Bdnf) illuminate primarily strain and stress-dependent changes, respectively, in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus of adults. These results suggest that contrary to expectations, limited adolescent stress is beneficial to males thru decreasing anxiety and enhancing social behaviors, and to the stress more-reactive WMI females by way of decreasing passive coping.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Kim
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Stephanie A Gacek
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Madaline M Mocchi
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Eva E Redei
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
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Gomes MGS, Tractenberg SG, Orso R, Viola TW, Grassi-Oliveira R. Sex differences in risk behavior parameters in adolescent mice: Relationship with brain-derived neurotrophic factor in the medial prefrontal cortex. Neurosci Lett 2022; 766:136339. [PMID: 34762979 DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2021.136339] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2021] [Revised: 11/02/2021] [Accepted: 11/03/2021] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
Adolescence is as a period of development characterized by impulsive and risk-seeking behaviors. Risk behaviors (RB) involves exposure to dangerous or negative consequences to achieve goal-directed behaviors, such as reward-seeking. On the other hand, risk aversion/assessment behaviors allow the individual to gather information or avoid potentially threatening situations. Evidence has suggested that both behavioral processes, RB and risk assessment (RA), may have sex-differences. However, sex-specific behavioral patterns implicated in RB and RA are not fully understood. To address that, we investigated sex differences in risk-behavioral parameters in a decision-making task developed for rodents. In addition, we investigated the potential role of sex-dependent differences in gene expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) exon IV in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), which has been implicated to mediate PFC-related behavioral dysfunctions. Male and female C57BL/6J adolescent mice were evaluated in the elevated plus-maze (EPM) to assess anxiety-like behaviors and in the predator-odor risk taking (PORT) task. The PORT task is a decision-making paradigm in which a conflict between the motivation towards reward pursuit and the threat elicited by predatory olfactory cues (coyote urine) is explored. After behavioral testing, animals were euthanized and BDNF exon IV gene expression was measured by RT-qPCR. Comparative and correlational analyses for behavioral and molecular parameters were performed for both sexes. We observed that female mice spent more time exploring the middle chamber of the PORT apparatus in the aversive condition, which is an indicative of avoidance behavior. Female mice also had a higher latency to collect the reward than male mice and presented less time exploring the open arms of the EPM. BDNF exon IV gene expression was higher among females, and there was a positive correlation between the BDNF and PORT behavioral parameters. Our findings suggest sex-dependent effects in the PORT task. Females presented higher RA and avoidance behavior profile and expressed higher levels of BDNF exon IV in the mPFC. Moreover, higher BDNF expression was correlated with RA behaviors, which suggests that adolescent females tend to evaluate the risks more than adolescent males and that BDNF gene expression may be mediating decision-making processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco G S Gomes
- Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Lab (DCNL), Brain Institute of Rio Grande do Sul (BraIns), Pontifical University Catholic of Rio Grande Do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre, Brazil
| | - Saulo G Tractenberg
- Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Lab (DCNL), Brain Institute of Rio Grande do Sul (BraIns), Pontifical University Catholic of Rio Grande Do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre, Brazil
| | - Rodrigo Orso
- Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Lab (DCNL), Brain Institute of Rio Grande do Sul (BraIns), Pontifical University Catholic of Rio Grande Do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre, Brazil; Translational Neuropsychiatry Unit, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Denmark
| | - Thiago W Viola
- Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Lab (DCNL), Brain Institute of Rio Grande do Sul (BraIns), Pontifical University Catholic of Rio Grande Do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre, Brazil
| | - Rodrigo Grassi-Oliveira
- Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Lab (DCNL), Brain Institute of Rio Grande do Sul (BraIns), Pontifical University Catholic of Rio Grande Do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre, Brazil; Translational Neuropsychiatry Unit, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Denmark.
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Eltokhi A, Kurpiers B, Pitzer C. Baseline Depression-Like Behaviors in Wild-Type Adolescent Mice Are Strain and Age but Not Sex Dependent. Front Behav Neurosci 2021; 15:759574. [PMID: 34690714 PMCID: PMC8529326 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2021.759574] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2021] [Accepted: 09/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Depression is a major neuropsychiatric disorder, decreasing the ability of hundreds of millions of individuals worldwide to function in social, academic, and employment settings. Beyond the alarming public health problem, depression leads to morbidity across the entire age including adolescence and adulthood. Modeling depression in rodents has been used to understand the pathophysiological mechanisms behind this disorder and create new therapeutics. Although women are two times more likely to be diagnosed with depression compared to men, behavioral experiments on rodent models of depression are mainly performed in males based on the assumption that the estrous cycles in females may affect the behavioral outcome and cause an increase in the intrinsic variability compared to males. Still, the inclusion of female rodents in the behavioral analysis is mandatory to establish the origin of sex bias in depression. Here, we investigated the baseline depression-like behaviors in male and female mice of three adolescent wild-type inbred strains, C57BL/6N, DBA/2, and FVB/N, that are typically used as background strains for mouse models of neuropsychiatric disorders. Our experiments, performed at two different developmental stages during adolescence (P22-P26 and P32-P36), revealed strain but no sex differences in a set of depression-related tests, including tail suspension, sucrose preference and forced swim tests. Additionally, the 10-day interval during this sensitive period uncovered a strong impact on the behavioral outcome of C57BL/6N and FVB/N mice, highlighting a significant effect of maturation on behavioral patterns. Since anxiety-related behavioral tests are often performed together with depression tests in mouse models of neuropsychiatric disorders, we extended our study and included hyponeophagia as an anxiety test. Consistent with a previous study revealing sex differences in other anxiety tests in adolescent mice, male and females mice behaved differently in the hyponeophagia test at P27. Our study gives insight into the behavioral experiments assessing depression and stresses the importance of considering strain, age and sex when evaluating neuropsychiatric-like traits in rodent models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ahmed Eltokhi
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Barbara Kurpiers
- Interdisciplinary Neurobehavioral Core, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Claudia Pitzer
- Interdisciplinary Neurobehavioral Core, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
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de Jong TV, Kim P, Guryev V, Mulligan MK, Williams RW, Redei EE, Chen H. Whole genome sequencing of nearly isogenic WMI and WLI inbred rats identifies genes potentially involved in depression and stress reactivity. Sci Rep 2021; 11:14774. [PMID: 34285244 PMCID: PMC8292482 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-92993-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2021] [Accepted: 06/17/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The WMI and WLI inbred rats were generated from the stress-prone, and not yet fully inbred, Wistar Kyoto (WKY) strain. These were selected using bi-directional selection for immobility in the forced swim test and were then sib-mated for over 38 generations. Despite the low level of genetic diversity among WKY progenitors, the WMI substrain is significantly more vulnerable to stress relative to the counter-selected WLI strain. Here we quantify numbers and classes of genomic sequence variants distinguishing these substrains with the long term goal of uncovering functional and behavioral polymorphism that modulate sensitivity to stress and depression-like phenotypes. DNA from WLI and WMI was sequenced using Illumina xTen, IonTorrent, and 10X Chromium linked-read platforms to obtain a combined coverage of ~ 100X for each strain. We identified 4,296 high quality homozygous SNPs and indels between the WMI and WLI. We detected high impact variants in genes previously implicated in depression (e.g. Gnat2), depression-like behavior (e.g. Prlr, Nlrp1a), other psychiatric disease (e.g. Pou6f2, Kdm5a, Reep3, Wdfy3), and responses to psychological stressors (e.g. Pigr). High coverage sequencing data confirm that the two substrains are nearly coisogenic. Nonetheless, the small number of sequence variants contributes to numerous well characterized differences including depression-like behavior, stress reactivity, and addiction related phenotypes. These selected substrains are an ideal resource for forward and reverse genetic studies using a reduced complexity cross.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Panjun Kim
- University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Victor Guryev
- European Research Institute for the Biology of Ageing, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | | | | | - Eva E Redei
- Northwestern University - Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Hao Chen
- University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA.
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Luo W, Lim PH, Wert SL, Gacek SA, Chen H, Redei EE. Hypothalamic Gene Expression and Postpartum Behavior in a Genetic Rat Model of Depression. Front Behav Neurosci 2020; 14:589967. [PMID: 33192370 PMCID: PMC7649805 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2020.589967] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2020] [Accepted: 09/25/2020] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Postpartum depression is a complex illness that often occurs in genetically predisposed individuals. Closely related inbred rat strains are a great resource to identify novel causative genes and mechanisms underlying complex traits such as postpartum behavior. We report differences in these behaviors between the inbred depression model, Wistar Kyoto (WKY) More Immobile (WMI), and the isogenic control Wistar Kyoto Less Immobile (WLI) dams. WMI dams showed significantly lower litter survival rate and frequency of arched back and blanket nursing, but increased pup-directed licking, grooming, and retrieval during postpartum days (PPD) 1-10, compared to control WLIs. This increased pup-directed behavior and the frequency of self-directed behaviors segregated during selective breeding of the progenitor strain of WKY, which is also a depression model. These behaviors are manifested in the WMIs in contrast to those of WLIs. Furthermore, habitual differences in the self-directed behavior between light and dark cycles present in WLIs were missing in WMI dams. Hypothalamic transcript levels of the circadian rhythm-related gene Lysine Demethylase 5A (Kdm5a), period 2 (Per2), and the maternal behavior-related oxytocin receptor (Oxtr), vasopressin (Avp), and vasopressin receptor 1a (Avpr1a) were significantly greater in the post-weaning WMI dams at PPD 24 compared to those of WLIs, and also to those of WMI dams whose litter died before PPD 5. Expression correlation amongst genes differed in WLI and WMI dams and between the two time-points postpartum, suggesting genetic and litter-survival differences between these strains affect transcript levels. These data demonstrate that the genetically close, but behaviorally disparate WMI and WLI strains would be suitable for investigating the underlying genetic basis of postpartum behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wendy Luo
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Patrick H Lim
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Stephanie L Wert
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Stephanie A Gacek
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Hao Chen
- Department of Pharmacology, Addiction Science, and Toxicology, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, United States
| | - Eva E Redei
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, United States
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Chari T, Griswold S, Andrews NA, Fagiolini M. The Stage of the Estrus Cycle Is Critical for Interpretation of Female Mouse Social Interaction Behavior. Front Behav Neurosci 2020; 14:113. [PMID: 32714163 PMCID: PMC7340104 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2020.00113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2020] [Accepted: 06/08/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Female animals in biomedical research have traditionally been excluded from research studies due to the perceived added complexity caused by the estrus cycle. However, given the importance of sex differences in a variety of neurological disorders, testing female mice is critical to identifying sex-linked effects in diseases. To determine the susceptibility of simple behaviors to hormonal fluctuations in the estrus cycle, we studied the effects of sex and the estrus cycle on a variety of behavioral tasks commonly used in mouse phenotyping laboratories. Male and female C57BL/6J mice were tested in a small battery of short duration tests and, immediately on completion of each test, females were classified using cytology of vaginal lavages as sexually-receptive (proestrus and estrus) or non-receptive (NR; metestrus and diestrus). We showed that there was a significant difference in 3-chamber social interaction (SI) between female mice at different stages of their estrus cycle, with sexually-receptive mice showing no preferential interest in a novel female mouse compared with an empty chamber. NR female mice showed the same level of preference for a novel female mouse as male mice did for a novel male mouse. No differences between or within sexes were found for tests of anxiety elevated plus maze (EPM; Hole board), working memory [Novel object recognition (NOR)], and motor learning (repeated tests on rotarod). We conclude that the stage of the estrus cycle may impact SI between same-sex conspecifics, and does not impact performance in the elevated plus-maze, hole board, NOR, and rotarod.
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Affiliation(s)
- Trishala Chari
- Neurodevelopmental Behavior Core, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Sophie Griswold
- Neurodevelopmental Behavior Core, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Nick A Andrews
- Neurodevelopmental Behavior Core, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Michela Fagiolini
- Neurodevelopmental Behavior Core, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States
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Lim PH, Shi G, Wang T, Jenz ST, Mulligan MK, Redei EE, Chen H. Genetic Model to Study the Co-Morbid Phenotypes of Increased Alcohol Intake and Prior Stress-Induced Enhanced Fear Memory. Front Genet 2018; 9:566. [PMID: 30538720 PMCID: PMC6277590 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2018.00566] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2018] [Accepted: 11/06/2018] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a complex illness, frequently co-morbid with depression, caused by both genetics, and the environment. Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD), which also co-occurs with depression, is often co-morbid with PTSD. To date, very few genes have been identified for PTSD and even less for PTSD comorbidity with AUD, likely because of the phenotypic heterogeneity seen in humans, combined with each gene playing a relatively small role in disease predisposition. In the current study, we investigated whether a genetic model of depression-like behavior, further developed from the depression model Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rat, is a suitable vehicle to uncover the genetics of co-morbidity between PTSD and AUD. The by-now inbred WKY More Immobile (WMI) and the WKY Less Immobile (WLI) rats were generated from the WKY via bidirectional selective breeding using the forced swim test, a measure of despair-like behavior, as the functional selector. The colonies of the WMIs that show despair-like behavior and the control strain showing less or no despair-like behavior, the WLI, are maintained with strict inbreeding over 40 generations to date. WMIs of both sexes intrinsically self-administer more alcohol than WLIs. Alcohol self-administration is increased in the WMIs without sucrose fading, water deprivation or any prior stress, mimicking the increased voluntary alcohol-consumption of subjects with AUD. Prior Stress-Enhanced Fear Learning (SEFL) is a model of PTSD. WMI males, but not females, show increased SEFL after acute restraint stress in the context-dependent fear conditioning paradigm, a sexually dimorphic pattern similar to human data. Plasma corticosterone differences between stressed and not-stressed WLI and WMI male and female animals immediately prior to fear conditioning predict SEFL results. These data demonstrate that the WMI male and its genetically close, but behaviorally divergent control the WLI male, would be suitable for investigating the underlying genetic basis of comorbidity between SEFL and alcohol self-administration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick Henry Lim
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Guang Shi
- Liaoning Provincial People's Hospital, Liaoning Sheng, China
| | - Tengfei Wang
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, United States
| | - Sophia T Jenz
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Megan K Mulligan
- Department of Genetics Genomics and Informatics, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, United States
| | - Eva E Redei
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Hao Chen
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, United States
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Ladha S, Qiu X, Casal L, Caron NS, Ehrnhoefer DE, Hayden MR. Constitutive ablation of caspase-6 reduces the inflammatory response and behavioural changes caused by peripheral pro-inflammatory stimuli. Cell Death Discov 2018; 4:40. [PMID: 29560279 PMCID: PMC5849887 DOI: 10.1038/s41420-018-0043-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2018] [Accepted: 02/12/2018] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Traditionally, the family of caspases has been subcategorised according to their respective main roles in mediating apoptosis or inflammation. However, recent studies have revealed that caspases participate in diverse cellular functions beyond their canonical roles. Caspase-6 (C6) is one such protease known for its role as a pro-apoptotic executioner caspase and its aberrant activity in several neurodegenerative diseases. In addition to apoptosis, C6 has been shown to regulate B-cell activation and differentiation in plasma cells as well as macrophage activation. Furthermore, C6 has recently been postulated to play a role in mediating the inflammatory response through the production of TNF-α. In this study we further examine the role of C6 in mediating the inflammatory response and its contribution to the manifestation of behavioural abnormalities in mice. We find that C6 is a positive regulator of TNF-α transcription in macrophages and that ablation of C6 reduces lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced TNF-α levels in plasma. Furthermore, loss of C6 attenuates LPS-induced behavioural changes in mice and protects neurons from cytokine-mediated toxicity. These data further support the involvement of C6 in the inflammatory response and point to a previously unknown role for C6 in the pathophysiology of depression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Safia Ladha
- 1Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics (CMMT), CFRI, Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, 950 West 28th Avenue, Vancouver, BC V5Z 4H4 Canada
| | - Xiaofan Qiu
- 1Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics (CMMT), CFRI, Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, 950 West 28th Avenue, Vancouver, BC V5Z 4H4 Canada
| | - Lorenzo Casal
- 1Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics (CMMT), CFRI, Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, 950 West 28th Avenue, Vancouver, BC V5Z 4H4 Canada
| | - Nicholas S Caron
- 1Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics (CMMT), CFRI, Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, 950 West 28th Avenue, Vancouver, BC V5Z 4H4 Canada
| | - Dagmar E Ehrnhoefer
- 1Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics (CMMT), CFRI, Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, 950 West 28th Avenue, Vancouver, BC V5Z 4H4 Canada.,Present Address: BioMed X Innovation Center, Im Neuenheimer Feld 515, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Michael R Hayden
- 1Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics (CMMT), CFRI, Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, 950 West 28th Avenue, Vancouver, BC V5Z 4H4 Canada
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12
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Xu Y, Ma L, Jiang W, Li Y, Wang G, Li R. Study of Sex Differences in Duloxetine Efficacy for Depression in Transgenic Mouse Models. Front Cell Neurosci 2017; 11:344. [PMID: 29163055 PMCID: PMC5671501 DOI: 10.3389/fncel.2017.00344] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2017] [Accepted: 10/16/2017] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Clinical evidences show sex differences in risk of developing depressive disorders as well as effect of antidepressants in depression treatment. However, whether such a sex-dependent risk of depression and efficacy of antidepressants is dependent on endogenous estrogen level remain elusive. The aim of this study is to explore the molecular mechanisms of sex differences in antidepressant duloxetine. In the present study, we used genetic knockout or overexpression estrogen-synthesizing enzyme aromatase (Ar) gene as models for endogenous estrogen deficiency and elevation endogenous estrogen, respectively, to examine the anti-depressive efficacy of duloxetine in males and females by force swimming test (FST). We also measured the sex-specific effect of duloxetine on dopamine and serotonin (5-HT) metabolisms in frontal cortex and hippocampus (HPC). Elevation of brain endogenous estrogen in male and female mice showed a reduction of immobility time in FST compared to control mice. Estrogen deficiency in females showed poor response to duloxetine treatment compared to sex-matched wildtype (WT) or aromatase transgenic mice. In contrast, male mice with estrogen deficiency showed same anti-depressive response to duloxetine treatments as aromatase transgenic mice. Our data showed that the sex different effect of endogenous estrogen on duloxetine-induced anti-depressive behavioral change is associated with brain region-specific changes of dopamine (DA) and 5-HT system. Endogenous estrogen exerts antidepressant effects in both males and females. Lacking of endogenous estrogen reduced antidepressive effect of duloxetine in females only. The endogenous estrogen level alters 5-HT system in female mainly, while both DA and 5-HT metabolisms were regulated by endogenous estrogen levels after duloxetine administration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yong Xu
- The National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Lei Ma
- The National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Wei Jiang
- School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
| | - Yuhong Li
- The National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
- Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Gang Wang
- The National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Rena Li
- The National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
- Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
- Center for Hormone Advanced Science and Education, Roskamp Institute, Sarasota, FL, United States
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13
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Holl K, He H, Wedemeyer M, Clopton L, Wert S, Meckes JK, Cheng R, Kastner A, Palmer AA, Redei EE, Solberg Woods LC. Heterogeneous stock rats: a model to study the genetics of despair-like behavior in adolescence. GENES BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR 2017; 17:139-148. [PMID: 28834208 DOI: 10.1111/gbb.12410] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2017] [Revised: 08/17/2017] [Accepted: 08/17/2017] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a complex illness caused by both genetic and environmental factors. Antidepressant resistance also has a genetic component. To date, however, very few genes have been identified for major depression or antidepressant resistance. In this study, we investigated whether outbred heterogeneous stock (HS) rats would be a suitable model to uncover the genetics of depression and its connection to antidepressant resistance. The Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rat, one of the eight founders of the HS, is a recognized animal model of juvenile depression and is resistant to fluoxetine antidepressant treatment. We therefore hypothesized that adolescent HS rats would exhibit variation in both despair-like behavior and response to fluoxetine treatment. We assessed heritability of despair-like behavior and response to sub-acute fluoxetine using a modified forced swim test (FST) in 4-week-old HS rats. We also tested whether blood transcript levels previously identified as depression biomarkers in adolescent human subjects are differentially expressed in HS rats with high vs. low FST immobility. We demonstrate heritability of despair-like behavior in 4-week-old HS rats and show that many HS rats are resistant to fluoxetine treatment. In addition, blood transcript levels of Amfr, Cdr2 and Kiaa1539, genes previously identified in human adolescents with MDD, are differentially expressed between HS rats with high vs. low immobility. These data demonstrate that FST despair-like behavior will be amenable to genetic fine-mapping in adolescent HS rats. The overlap between human and HS blood biomarkers suggest that these studies may translate to depression in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- K Holl
- Department of pediatrics, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA
| | - H He
- Internal Medicine, Molecular Medicine, Wake Forest Baptist Health, Winston Salem, NC, USA
| | - M Wedemeyer
- Department of pediatrics, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA
| | - L Clopton
- Department of pediatrics, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA
| | - S Wert
- Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - J K Meckes
- Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - R Cheng
- University of California, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - A Kastner
- Department of pediatrics, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA
| | - A A Palmer
- University of California, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - E E Redei
- Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - L C Solberg Woods
- Internal Medicine, Molecular Medicine, Wake Forest Baptist Health, Winston Salem, NC, USA
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14
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D'Souza D, Sadananda M. Estrous Cycle Phase-Dependent Changes in Anxiety- and Depression-Like Profiles in the Late Adolescent Wistar-Kyoto Rat. Ann Neurosci 2017; 24:136-145. [PMID: 28867895 DOI: 10.1159/000477151] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2016] [Accepted: 02/23/2017] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Depression often manifests during adolescence when the development and networking of social and emotional brain areas is being influenced by hormones. The Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rat has been proposed as an animal model of adolescent depression with various face, construct, and predictive validities for clinical depression having been established. PURPOSE The influence of the estrous cycle on anxiety- and depression-like behaviors in female adolescents may be tested out further using this model. METHODS Female adolescent WKY rats were tested for anxiety- and depression-like behaviors in the elevated plus maze and forced swim test (FST) during different phases of the estrous cycle with inbred, age-, and phase-matched Wistar rats as controls. RESULTS Wistars in proestrus-estrus demonstrated reduced anxiety levels. WKY also demonstrated increased open arm time and entries and closed arm time, but less than Wistars, and as closed arm entries remained unaffected, it did not translate into a lowering of the anxiety levels. Risk taking and risk assessment behaviors were not affected by estrous phases in WKY, though exploratory behavior was reduced in proestrus-estrus. In Wistars, increased risk taking and decreased risk assessment behaviors were observed during proestrus-estrus. Increased immobility in the FST, indicative of learned helplessness was not influenced by phase in the WKY, which was at variance with Wistars that demonstrated phase-specific differences. CONCLUSION Results indicate a masking effect of indicative hormones in this putative model of adolescent depression, with implications for an unravelling of the steroid milieu in predisposed adolescent depression and for taking phase-specific time windows into account for therapeutic interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deepthi D'Souza
- Brain Research Laboratory, Biotechnology Unit, Department of Biosciences, Mangalore University, Mangalagangothri, India
| | - Monika Sadananda
- Brain Research Laboratory, Biotechnology Unit, Department of Biosciences, Mangalore University, Mangalagangothri, India
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15
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Raghavan NS, Chen H, Schipma M, Luo W, Chung S, Wang L, Redei EE. Prepubertal Ovariectomy Exaggerates Adult Affective Behaviors and Alters the Hippocampal Transcriptome in a Genetic Rat Model of Depression. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne) 2017; 8:373. [PMID: 29403433 PMCID: PMC5786888 DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2017.00373] [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] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2017] [Accepted: 12/19/2017] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a debilitating illness that affects twice as many women than men postpuberty. This female bias is thought to be caused by greater heritability of MDD in women and increased vulnerability induced by female sex hormones. We tested this hypothesis by removing the ovaries from prepubertal Wistar Kyoto (WKY) more immobile (WMI) females, a genetic animal model of depression, and its genetically close control, the WKY less immobile (WLI). In adulthood, prepubertally ovariectomized (PrePubOVX) animals and their Sham-operated controls were tested for depression- and anxiety-like behaviors, using the routinely employed forced swim and open field tests, respectively, and RNA-sequencing was performed on their hippocampal RNA. Our results confirmed that the behavioral and hippocampal expression changes that occur after prepubertal ovariectomy are the consequences of an interaction between genetic predisposition to depressive behavior and ovarian hormone-regulated processes. Lack of ovarian hormones during and after puberty in the WLIs led to increased depression-like behavior. In WMIs, both depression- and anxiety-like behaviors worsened by prepubertal ovariectomy. The unbiased exploration of the hippocampal transcriptome identified sets of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the strains and treatment groups. The relatively small number of hippocampal DEGs resulting from the genetic differences between the strains confirmed the genetic relatedness of these strains. Nevertheless, the differences in DEGs between the strains in response to prepubertal ovariectomy identified different molecular processes, including the importance of glucocorticoid receptor-mediated mechanisms, that may be causative of the increased depression-like behavior in the presence or absence of genetic predisposition. This study contributes to the understanding of hormonal maturation-induced changes in affective behaviors and the hippocampal transcriptome as it relates to genetic predisposition to depression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Neha S. Raghavan
- The Asher Center for the Study & Treatment of Depressive Disorders, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Hao Chen
- Department of Pharmacology, The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, United States
| | - Matthew Schipma
- Next-Generation Sequencing Core Facility, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Wendy Luo
- The Asher Center for the Study & Treatment of Depressive Disorders, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Sarah Chung
- The Asher Center for the Study & Treatment of Depressive Disorders, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Lei Wang
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
- Department of Radiology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Eva E. Redei
- The Asher Center for the Study & Treatment of Depressive Disorders, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
- *Correspondence: Eva E. Redei,
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16
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D'Souza D, Sadananda M. Anxiety- and depressive-like profiles during early- and mid-adolescence in the female Wistar Kyoto rat. Int J Dev Neurosci 2016; 56:18-26. [PMID: 27845188 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijdevneu.2016.11.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2016] [Revised: 10/14/2016] [Accepted: 11/10/2016] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Approaches for the development of preclinical models of depression extensively use adult and male animals owing to the discrepancies arising out of the hormonal flux in adult females and adolescents during attainment of puberty. Thus the increased vulnerability of females towards clinical depression and anxiety-related disorders remains incompletely understood. Development of clinical models of depression in adolescent females is essential in order to evolve effective treatment strategies for adolescent depression. In the present study, we have examined the anxiety and depressive-like profiles in a putative animal model of childhood depression, the Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rat, during early adolescence (∼postnatal day 30) and mid-adolescence (∼postnatal day 40). Female adolescent WKY rats, tested on a series of behavioural tests modelling anxiety- and depressive-like behaviours with age-matched Wistars as controls, demonstrated marked differences during early adolescence in a strain- and age-specific manner. Anxiety indices were obtained from exposure to the elevated plus maze, where social communication vide 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations was also assessed, while immobility and other parameters in the forced swim test were screened for depressive-like profiles. Sucrose preference, used as a measure of anhedonia in animals, was lower in WKYs at both ages tested and decreased with age. Anxiety-related behaviours were prominent in WKY rats only during early adolescence. WKY female rats are anxious during early adolescence and exhibit anhedonia as a core symptom of depression during early- and mid-adolescence, thus indicating that inclusion of female animals in preclinical trials is essential and will contribute to gender-based approaches to diagnosis and treatment of adolescent depression in females.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deepthi D'Souza
- Brain Research Laboratory, Biotechnology Unit, Department of Biosciences, Mangalore University, Mangalagangothri 574 199, Karnataka, India
| | - Monika Sadananda
- Brain Research Laboratory, Biotechnology Unit, Department of Biosciences, Mangalore University, Mangalagangothri 574 199, Karnataka, India.
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17
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Ruiz-Palmero I, Ortiz-Rodriguez A, Melcangi RC, Caruso D, Garcia-Segura LM, Rune GM, Arevalo MA. Oestradiol synthesized by female neurons generates sex differences in neuritogenesis. Sci Rep 2016; 6:31891. [PMID: 27553191 PMCID: PMC4995407 DOI: 10.1038/srep31891] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2015] [Accepted: 07/29/2016] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Testosterone produced by the foetal testis is converted by male neurons to oestradiol, which masculinizes neuronal morphology. Female neurons are known to synthesize oestradiol in absence of exogenous testosterone. However, the role of neuronal oestradiol on the differentiation of foetal female neurons is unknown. Here we show that, due to endogenous neuronal oestradiol synthesis, female hippocampal neurons have higher expression of the neuritogenic protein Neurogenin 3 and enhanced neuritogenesis than males. Exogenous application of testosterone or its metabolite dihydrotestosterone increases Neurogenin 3 expression and promotes neuritogenesis in males, but reduces these parameters in females. Together our data indicate that gonadal-independent oestradiol synthesis by female neurons participates in the generation of sex differences in hippocampal neuronal development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Isabel Ruiz-Palmero
- Instituto Cajal, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Avenida Doctor Arce 37, 28002 Madrid, Spain
| | - Ana Ortiz-Rodriguez
- Instituto Cajal, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Avenida Doctor Arce 37, 28002 Madrid, Spain
| | - Roberto Cosimo Melcangi
- Dipartimento di Scienze Farmacologiche e Biomolecolari, Center of Excellence on Neurodegenerative Diseases, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via G. Balzaretti 9, 20133 Milan, Italy
| | - Donatella Caruso
- Dipartimento di Scienze Farmacologiche e Biomolecolari, Center of Excellence on Neurodegenerative Diseases, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via G. Balzaretti 9, 20133 Milan, Italy
| | - Luis M Garcia-Segura
- Instituto Cajal, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Avenida Doctor Arce 37, 28002 Madrid, Spain
| | - Gabriele M Rune
- Institute of Neuroanatomy, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistr. 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Maria-Angeles Arevalo
- Instituto Cajal, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Avenida Doctor Arce 37, 28002 Madrid, Spain
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18
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Singer ML, Oreschak K, Rhinehart Z, Robison BD. Anxiolytic effects of fluoxetine and nicotine exposure on exploratory behavior in zebrafish. PeerJ 2016; 4:e2352. [PMID: 27635325 PMCID: PMC5012263 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.2352] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2016] [Accepted: 07/20/2016] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Zebrafish (Danio rerio) have emerged as a popular model for studying the pharmacology and behavior of anxiety. While there have been numerous studies documenting the anxiolytic and anxiogenic effects of common drugs in zebrafish, many do not report or test for behavioral differences between the sexes. Previous studies have indicated that males and females differ in their baseline level of anxiety. In this study, we test for a sex interaction with fluoxetine and nicotine. We exposed fish to system water (control), 10 mg/L fluoxetine, or 1 mg/L nicotine for three minutes prior to being subjected to four minutes in an open-field drop test. Video recordings were tracked using ProAnalyst. Fish from both drug treatments reduced swimming speed, increased vertical position, and increased use of the top half of the open field when compared with the control, though fluoxetine had a larger effect on depth related behaviors while nicotine mostly affected swimming speed. A significant sex effect was observed where females swam at a slower and more constant speed than males, however neither drug produced a sex-dependent response.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew L Singer
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, United States
| | - Kris Oreschak
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, United States.,Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, United States
| | - Zachariah Rhinehart
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, United States
| | - Barrie D Robison
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, United States
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19
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Exposure to early adversity: Points of cross-species translation that can lead to improved understanding of depression. Dev Psychopathol 2016; 27:477-91. [PMID: 25997766 DOI: 10.1017/s0954579415000103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 79] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
The relationship between developmental exposure to adversity and affective disorders is reviewed. Adversity discussed herein includes physical and sexual abuse, neglect, or loss of a caregiver in humans. While these stressors can occur at any point during development, the unique temporal relationship to specific depressive symptoms was the focus of discussion. Further influences of stress exposure during sensitive periods can vary by gender and duration of abuse as well. Data from animal studies are presented to provide greater translational and causal understanding of how sensitive periods, different types of psychosocial stressors, and sex interact to produce depressive-like behaviors. Findings from maternal separation, isolation rearing, chronic variable stress, and peer-peer rearing paradigms clarify interpretation about how various depressive behaviors are influenced by age of exposure. Depressive behaviors are broken down into the following categories: mood and affect, anhedonia, energy, working memory, sleep-wake, appetite changes, suicide, and general malaise. Cross-species evidence from humans, nonhuman primates, rats, and mice within each of these categories is discussed. In conclusion, sensitive periods for affective-related behaviors (anxiety, mood, and controllability) occur earlier in life, while other aspects of depression are associated with adversity later during adolescence.
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20
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Nature and nurture: environmental influences on a genetic rat model of depression. Transl Psychiatry 2016; 6:e770. [PMID: 27023176 PMCID: PMC4872452 DOI: 10.1038/tp.2016.28] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2015] [Revised: 01/12/2016] [Accepted: 01/24/2016] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
In this study, we sought to learn whether adverse events such as chronic restraint stress (CRS), or 'nurture' in the form of environmental enrichment (EE), could modify depression-like behavior and blood biomarker transcript levels in a genetic rat model of depression. The Wistar Kyoto More Immobile (WMI) is a genetic model of depression that aided in the identification of blood transcriptomic markers, which successfully distinguished adolescent and adult subjects with major depressive disorders from their matched no-disorder controls. Here, we followed the effects of CRS and EE in adult male WMIs and their genetically similar control strain, the Wistar Kyoto Less Immobile (WLI), that does not show depression-like behavior, by measuring the levels of these transcripts in the blood and hippocampus. In WLIs, increased depression-like behavior and transcriptomic changes were present in response to CRS, but in WMIs no behavioral or additive transcriptomic changes occurred. Environmental enrichment decreased both the inherent depression-like behavior in the WMIs and the behavioral difference between WMIs and WLIs, but did not reverse basal transcript level differences between the strains. The inverse behavioral change induced by CRS and EE in the WLIs did not result in parallel inverse expression changes of the transcriptomic markers, suggesting that these behavioral responses to the environment work via separate molecular pathways. In contrast, 'trait' transcriptomic markers with expression differences inherent and unchanging between the strains regardless of the environment suggest that in our model, environmental and genetic etiologies of depression work through independent molecular mechanisms.
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21
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Galeano P, Martino Adami PV, Do Carmo S, Blanco E, Rotondaro C, Capani F, Castaño EM, Cuello AC, Morelli L. Longitudinal analysis of the behavioral phenotype in a novel transgenic rat model of early stages of Alzheimer's disease. Front Behav Neurosci 2014; 8:321. [PMID: 25278855 PMCID: PMC4165352 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2014.00321] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2014] [Accepted: 08/29/2014] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Intraneuronal accumulation of amyloid β (iAβ) has been linked to mild cognitive impairment that may precede Alzheimer's disease (AD) onset. This neuropathological trait was recently mimicked in a novel animal model of AD, the hemizygous transgenic McGill-R-Thy1-APP (Tg+/−) rat. The characterization of the behavioral phenotypes in this animal model could provide a baseline of efficacy for earlier therapeutic interventions. The aim of the present study was to undertake a longitudinal study of Aβ accumulation and a comprehensive behavioral evaluation of this transgenic rat model. We assessed exploratory activity, anxiety-related behaviors, recognition memory, working memory, spatial learning and reference memory at 3, 6, and 12 months of age. In parallel, we measured Aβ by ELISA, Western blots and semiquantitative immunohistochemistry in hippocampal samples. SDS-soluble Aβ peptide accumulated at low levels (~9 pg/mg) without differences among ages. However, Western blots showed SDS-resistant Aβ oligomers (~30 kDa) at 6 and 12 months, but not at 3 months. When compared to wild-type (WT), male Tg+/− rats exhibited a spatial reference memory deficit in the Morris Water Maze (MWM) as early as 3 months of age, which persisted at 6 and 12 months. In addition, Tg+/− rats displayed a working memory impairment in the Y-maze and higher anxiety levels in the Open Field (OF) at 6 and 12 months of age, but not at 3 months. Exploratory activity in the OF was similar to that of WT at all-time points. Spatial learning in the MWM and the recognition memory, as assessed by the Novel Object Recognition Test, were unimpaired at any time point. The data from the present study demonstrate that the hemizygous transgenic McGill-R-Thy1-APP rat has a wide array of behavioral and cognitive impairments from young adulthood to middle-age. The low Aβ burden and early emotional and cognitive deficits in this transgenic rat model supports its potential use for drug discovery purposes in early AD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pablo Galeano
- Laboratorio de Amiloidosis y Neurodegeneración, Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires, Fundación Instituto Leloir, CONICET Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina ; Instituto de Investigaciones Cardiológicas "Prof. Dr. Alberto C. Taquini" (ININCA), Universidad de Buenos Aires and CONICET Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Pamela V Martino Adami
- Laboratorio de Amiloidosis y Neurodegeneración, Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires, Fundación Instituto Leloir, CONICET Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Sonia Do Carmo
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, McGill University Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Eduardo Blanco
- Departament de Pedagogia i Psicologia, Facultatd'Educació, Psicologia i Treball Social, Universitat de Lleida Lleida, Spain
| | - Cecilia Rotondaro
- Laboratorio de Amiloidosis y Neurodegeneración, Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires, Fundación Instituto Leloir, CONICET Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Francisco Capani
- Instituto de Investigaciones Cardiológicas "Prof. Dr. Alberto C. Taquini" (ININCA), Universidad de Buenos Aires and CONICET Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Eduardo M Castaño
- Laboratorio de Amiloidosis y Neurodegeneración, Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires, Fundación Instituto Leloir, CONICET Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - A Claudio Cuello
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, McGill University Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Laura Morelli
- Laboratorio de Amiloidosis y Neurodegeneración, Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires, Fundación Instituto Leloir, CONICET Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
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22
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Kokras N, Dalla C. Sex differences in animal models of psychiatric disorders. Br J Pharmacol 2014; 171:4595-619. [PMID: 24697577 DOI: 10.1111/bph.12710] [Citation(s) in RCA: 233] [Impact Index Per Article: 23.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2013] [Revised: 03/20/2014] [Accepted: 03/26/2014] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Psychiatric disorders are characterized by sex differences in their prevalence, symptomatology and treatment response. Animal models have been widely employed for the investigation of the neurobiology of such disorders and the discovery of new treatments. However, mostly male animals have been used in preclinical pharmacological studies. In this review, we highlight the need for the inclusion of both male and female animals in experimental studies aiming at gender-oriented prevention, diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric disorders. We present behavioural findings on sex differences from animal models of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance-related disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and autism. Moreover, when available, we include studies conducted across different stages of the oestrous cycle. By inspection of the relevant literature, it is obvious that robust sex differences exist in models of all psychiatric disorders. However, many times results are conflicting, and no clear conclusion regarding the direction of sex differences and the effect of the oestrous cycle is drawn. Moreover, there is a lack of considerable amount of studies using psychiatric drugs in both male and female animals, in order to evaluate the differential response between the two sexes. Notably, while in most cases animal models successfully mimic drug response in both sexes, test parameters and treatment-sensitive behavioural indices are not always the same for male and female rodents. Thus, there is an increasing need to validate animal models for both sexes and use standard procedures across different laboratories.
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Affiliation(s)
- N Kokras
- Department of Pharmacology, Medical School, University of Athens, Greece; First Department of Psychiatry, Eginition Hospital, Medical School, University of Athens, Greece
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