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Mehrhoff EA, Booher WC, Hutchinson J, Schumacher G, Borski C, Lowry CA, Hoeffer CA, Ehringer MA. Diazepam effects on anxiety-related defensive behavior of male and female high and low open-field activity inbred mouse strains. Physiol Behav 2023; 271:114343. [PMID: 37689380 PMCID: PMC11131367 DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2023.114343] [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: 05/04/2023] [Revised: 08/26/2023] [Accepted: 09/06/2023] [Indexed: 09/11/2023]
Abstract
Open-field activity is a commonly used measure of anxiety-related behavior in rodents. The inbred High and Low Activity strains of mice, selected for extreme differences in open-field activity, have been used as a genetic model of anxiety-related behaviors. These selected strains have been thoroughly studied through extensive behavioral testing, quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping, whole-genome sequencing, and RNA sequencing, to uncover phenotypic and genotypic differences related to anxiety-related behavior. However, the effects of anxiolytic drugs on anxiety-related behavior in these strains have not been studied previously. This study allowed us to expand on previous findings to further characterize the anxiety-related behavior of these unique strains, using an anxiolytic drug. The goal of this study was to determine whether the treatment of adult male and female High Activity (low anxiety) and Low Activity (high anxiety) mice with diazepam, an agonist at the benzodiazepine allosteric site on the GABAA receptor and a drug commonly prescribed to treat anxiety disorders in humans, led to decreases in anxiety-like defensive behavioral responses as assessed in the open-field test (OFT) and elevated plus-maze (EPM). We tested the effects of three doses of diazepam (0, 0.5, 1.0, 3.0 mg/kg, i.p.), given 30 min before behavioral testing to one High Activity strain (H2) and two Low Activity strains (L1 and L2). There was an anxiolytic effect of diazepam observed in the High Activity strain, with more entries into the open arms of the elevated plus-maze, an effect similar to that seen in common mouse strains. However, the only anxiolytic effect of diazepam seen in the Low Activity strains was a reduction in stretch attend posture (SAP). Low Activity strains also displayed freezing behavior in both the OFT and EPM. The combination of the observed freezing behavior, that was not reduced by diazepam, and the reduction in SAP seen with diazepam, suggests a more complex phenotype that includes a component of innate fear in addition to anxiety-related risk assessment behaviors. Since fear and anxiety are distinguishable traits, and both contribute to human anxiety disorders, these results provide novel insight about interpretation of previous genetic and phenotypic differences observed between the High and Low Activity strains.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erika A Mehrhoff
- Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, United States; Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, United States
| | - Winona C Booher
- Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, United States; Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, United States; Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado, United States
| | - Julianna Hutchinson
- Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, United States
| | - Grace Schumacher
- Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, United States
| | - Curtis Borski
- Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, United States; Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, United States
| | - Christopher A Lowry
- Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, United States
| | - Charles A Hoeffer
- Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, United States; Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, United States
| | - Marissa A Ehringer
- Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, United States; Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, United States.
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Booher WC, Vanderlinden LA, Hall LA, Thomas AL, Evans LM, Saba LM, Ehringer MA. Hippocampal RNA sequencing in mice selectively bred for high and low activity. GENES, BRAIN, AND BEHAVIOR 2023; 22:e12832. [PMID: 36514243 PMCID: PMC10067415 DOI: 10.1111/gbb.12832] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2022] [Revised: 11/16/2022] [Accepted: 11/17/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
High and Low Activity strains of mice were bidirectionally selected for differences in open-field activity (DeFries et al., 1978, Behavior Genetics, 8: 3-13) and subsequently inbred to use as a genetic model for studying anxiety-like behaviors (Booher et al., 2021, Genes, Brain and Behavior, 20: e12730). Hippocampal RNA-sequencing of the High and Low Activity mice identified 3901 differentially expressed protein-coding genes, with both sex-dependent and sex-independent effects. Functional enrichment analysis (PANTHER) highlighted 15 gene ontology terms, which allowed us to create a narrow list of 264 top candidate genes. Of the top candidate genes, 46 encoded four Complexes (I, II, IV and V) and two electron carriers (cytochrome c and ubiquinone) of the mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation process. The most striking results were in the female high anxiety, Low Activity mice, where 39/46 genes relating to oxidative phosphorylation were upregulated. In addition, comparison of our top candidate genes with two previously curated High and Low Activity gene lists highlight 24 overlapping genes, where Ndufa13, which encodes the supernumerary subunit A13 of complex I, was the only gene to be included in all three lists. Mitochondrial dysfunction has recently been implicated as both a cause and effect of anxiety-related disorders and thus should be further explored as a possible novel pharmaceutical treatment for anxiety disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Winona C. Booher
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical SciencesUniversity of Colorado Anschutz Medical CampusAuroraColoradoUSA
- Institute for Behavioral GeneticsUniversity of Colorado BoulderBoulderColoradoUSA
- Department of Integrative PhysiologyUniversity of Colorado BoulderBoulderColoradoUSA
| | - Lauren A. Vanderlinden
- Department of Biostatistics & Informatics, Colorado School of Public HealthUniversity of Colorado Anschutz Medical CampusAuroraColoradoUSA
| | - Lucy A. Hall
- Department of Integrative PhysiologyUniversity of Colorado BoulderBoulderColoradoUSA
| | - Aimee L. Thomas
- Department of Integrative PhysiologyUniversity of Colorado BoulderBoulderColoradoUSA
| | - Luke M. Evans
- Institute for Behavioral GeneticsUniversity of Colorado BoulderBoulderColoradoUSA
| | - Laura M. Saba
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical SciencesUniversity of Colorado Anschutz Medical CampusAuroraColoradoUSA
| | - Marissa A. Ehringer
- Institute for Behavioral GeneticsUniversity of Colorado BoulderBoulderColoradoUSA
- Department of Integrative PhysiologyUniversity of Colorado BoulderBoulderColoradoUSA
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Pestana JE, Islam N, Van der Eyk NL, Graham BM. What Pre-clinical Rat Models Can Tell Us About Anxiety Across the Menstrual Cycle in Healthy and Clinically Anxious Humans. Curr Psychiatry Rep 2022; 24:697-707. [PMID: 36255558 PMCID: PMC9633475 DOI: 10.1007/s11920-022-01376-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/19/2022] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW Anxiety symptoms increase during the peri-menstrual phase of the menstrual cycle in people with anxiety disorders. Whether this reflects a heightened variant of normal menstrual-related changes in psychological states experienced by healthy (i.e. non-anxious) people is unknown. Moreover, menstrual-related change in anxiety symptoms is a poorly understood phenomenon, highlighting a need for pre-clinical models to aid mechanistic discovery. Here, we review recent evidence for menstrual effects on anxiety-like features in healthy humans as a counterpart to recent reviews that have focused on clinically anxious populations. We appraise the utility of rodent models to identify mechanisms of menstrual effects on anxiety and offer suggestions to harmonise methodological practices across species to advance knowledge in this field. RECENT FINDINGS Consistent with reports in clinical populations, some evidence indicates anxiety symptoms increase during the peri-menstrual period in healthy people, although null results have been reported, and these effects are heterogeneous across studies and individuals. Studies in rats show robust increases in anxiety during analogous phases of the oestrous cycle. Studies in female rats are useful to identify the evolutionarily conserved biological mechanisms of menstrual-related changes in anxiety. Future experimental approaches in rats should model the heterogeneity observed in human studies to increase alignment across species and advance understanding of the individual factors that increase the propensity to experience menstrual-related changes in anxiety.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jodie E Pestana
- School of Psychology, The University of New South Wales Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Nusaibah Islam
- School of Psychology, The University of New South Wales Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Natasha L Van der Eyk
- School of Psychology, The University of New South Wales Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Bronwyn M Graham
- School of Psychology, The University of New South Wales Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
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