1
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Durand-de Cuttoli R, Martínez-Rivera FJ, Li L, Minier-Toribio A, Dong Z, Cai DJ, Russo SJ, Nestler EJ, Sweis BM. A Double Hit of Social and Economic Stress in Mice Precipitates Changes in Decision-Making Strategies. Biol Psychiatry 2024; 96:67-78. [PMID: 38141911 PMCID: PMC11168892 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2023.12.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2023] [Revised: 12/07/2023] [Accepted: 12/13/2023] [Indexed: 12/25/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Economic stress can serve as a second hit for people who have already accumulated a history of adverse life experiences. How one recovers from a setback is a core feature of resilience but is seldom captured in animal studies. METHODS We challenged mice in a novel 2-hit stress model by first exposing them to chronic social defeat stress and then testing adaptations to increasing reward scarcity on a neuroeconomic task. Mice were tested across months on the Restaurant Row task, during which they foraged daily for their primary source of food while on a limited time budget in a closed-economy system. An abrupt transition into a reward-scarce environment elicits an economic challenge, precipitating a drop in food intake and body weight to which mice must respond to survive. RESULTS We found that mice with a history of social stress mounted a robust behavioral response to this economic challenge that was achieved through a complex redistribution of time allocation among competing opportunities. Interestingly, we found that mice with a history of social defeat displayed changes in the development of decision-making policies during the recovery process that are important not only for ensuring food security necessary for survival but also prioritizing subjective value and that these changes emerged only for certain types of choices. CONCLUSIONS These findings indicate that an individual's capacity to recover from economic challenges depends on that person's prior history of stress and can affect multiple decision-making aspects of subjective well-being, thus highlighting a motivational balance that may be altered in stress-related disorders such as depression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Romain Durand-de Cuttoli
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | | | - Long Li
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Angélica Minier-Toribio
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Zhe Dong
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Denise J Cai
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Scott J Russo
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Eric J Nestler
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York; Department of Psychiatry, Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Brian M Sweis
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York; Department of Psychiatry, Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York.
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2
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Gencturk S, Unal G. Rodent tests of depression and anxiety: Construct validity and translational relevance. COGNITIVE, AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2024; 24:191-224. [PMID: 38413466 PMCID: PMC11039509 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-024-01171-2] [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] [Accepted: 02/03/2024] [Indexed: 02/29/2024]
Abstract
Behavioral testing constitutes the primary method to measure the emotional states of nonhuman animals in preclinical research. Emerging as the characteristic tool of the behaviorist school of psychology, behavioral testing of animals, particularly rodents, is employed to understand the complex cognitive and affective symptoms of neuropsychiatric disorders. Following the symptom-based diagnosis model of the DSM, rodent models and tests of depression and anxiety focus on behavioral patterns that resemble the superficial symptoms of these disorders. While these practices provided researchers with a platform to screen novel antidepressant and anxiolytic drug candidates, their construct validity-involving relevant underlying mechanisms-has been questioned. In this review, we present the laboratory procedures used to assess depressive- and anxiety-like behaviors in rats and mice. These include constructs that rely on stress-triggered responses, such as behavioral despair, and those that emerge with nonaversive training, such as cognitive bias. We describe the specific behavioral tests that are used to assess these constructs and discuss the criticisms on their theoretical background. We review specific concerns about the construct validity and translational relevance of individual behavioral tests, outline the limitations of the traditional, symptom-based interpretation, and introduce novel, ethologically relevant frameworks that emphasize simple behavioral patterns. Finally, we explore behavioral monitoring and morphological analysis methods that can be integrated into behavioral testing and discuss how they can enhance the construct validity of these tests.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sinem Gencturk
- Behavioral Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Boğaziçi University, 34342, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Gunes Unal
- Behavioral Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Boğaziçi University, 34342, Istanbul, Turkey.
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3
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Giovanniello J, Bravo-Rivera C, Rosenkranz A, Matthew Lattal K. Stress, associative learning, and decision-making. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2023; 204:107812. [PMID: 37598745 DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2023.107812] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2023] [Revised: 06/02/2023] [Accepted: 08/17/2023] [Indexed: 08/22/2023]
Abstract
Exposure to acute and chronic stress has significant effects on the basic mechanisms of associative learning and memory. Stress can both impair and enhance associative learning depending on type, intensity, and persistence of the stressor, the subject's sex, the context that the stress and behavior is experienced in, and the type of associative learning taking place. In some cases, stress can cause or exacerbate the maladaptive behavior that underlies numerous psychiatric conditions including anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance use disorder, and others. Therefore, it is critical to understand how the varied effects of stress, which may normally facilitate adaptive behavior, can also become maladaptive and even harmful. In this review, we highlight several findings of associative learning and decision-making processes that are affected by stress in both human and non-human subjects and how they are related to one another. An emerging theme from this work is that stress biases behavior towards less flexible strategies that may reflect a cautious insensitivity to changing contingencies. We consider how this inflexibility has been observed in different associative learning procedures and suggest that a goal for the field should be to clarify how factors such as sex and previous experience influence this inflexibility.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Christian Bravo-Rivera
- Departments of Psychiatry and Anatomy & Neurobiology, University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine, San Juan, PR 00935, United States.
| | - Amiel Rosenkranz
- Center for Neurobiology of Stress Resilience and Psychiatric Disorders, Chicago Medical School, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, United States.
| | - K Matthew Lattal
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, United States.
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4
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Lai NHY, Mohd Zahir IA, Liew AKY, Ogawa S, Parhar I, Soga T. Teleosts as behaviour test models for social stress. Front Behav Neurosci 2023; 17:1205175. [PMID: 37744951 PMCID: PMC10512554 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2023.1205175] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2023] [Accepted: 08/21/2023] [Indexed: 09/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Stress is an important aspect of our everyday life and exposure to it is an unavoidable occurrence. In humans, this can come in the form of social stress or physical stress from an injury. Studies in animal models have helped researchers to understand the body's adaptive response to stress in human. Notably, the use of behavioural tests in animal models plays a pivotal role in understanding the neural, endocrine and behavioural changes induced by social stress. Under socially stressed conditions, behavioural parameters are often measured physiological and molecular parameters as changes in behaviour are direct responses to stress and are easily assessed by behavioural tests. Throughout the past few decades, the rodent model has been used as a well-established animal model for stress and behavioural changes. Recently, more attention has been drawn towards using fish as an animal model. Common fish models such as zebrafish, medaka, and African cichlids have the advantage of a higher rate of reproduction, easier handling techniques, sociability and most importantly, share evolutionary conserved genetic make-up, neural circuitry, neuropeptide molecular structure and function with mammalian species. In fact, some fish species exhibit a clear diurnal or seasonal rhythmicity in their stress response, similar to humans, as opposed to rodents. Various social stress models have been established in fish including but not limited to chronic social defeat stress, social stress avoidance, and social stress-related decision-making. The huge variety of behavioural patterns in teleost also aids in the study of more behavioural phenotypes than the mammalian species. In this review, we focus on the use of fish models as alternative models to study the effects of stress on different types of behaviours. Finally, fish behavioural tests against the typical mammalian model-based behavioural test are compared and discussed for their viability.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | - Tomoko Soga
- Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Malaysia, Bandar Sunway, Selangor, Malaysia
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5
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Boyle CC, Bower JE, Eisenberger NI, Irwin MR. Stress to inflammation and anhedonia: Mechanistic insights from preclinical and clinical models. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2023; 152:105307. [PMID: 37419230 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105307] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2022] [Revised: 06/30/2023] [Accepted: 07/04/2023] [Indexed: 07/09/2023]
Abstract
Anhedonia, as evidenced by impaired pleasurable response to reward, reduced reward motivation, and/or deficits in reward-related learning, is a common feature of depression. Such deficits in reward processing are also an important clinical target as a risk factor for depression onset. Unfortunately, reward-related deficits remain difficult to treat. To address this gap and inform the development of effective prevention and treatment strategies, it is critical to understand the mechanisms that drive impairments in reward function. Stress-induced inflammation is a plausible mechanism of reward deficits. The purpose of this paper is to review evidence for two components of this psychobiological pathway: 1) the effects of stress on reward function; and 2) the effects of inflammation on reward function. Within these two areas, we draw upon preclinical and clinical models, distinguish between acute and chronic effects of stress and inflammation, and address specific domains of reward dysregulation. By addressing these contextual factors, the review reveals a nuanced literature which might be targeted for additional scientific inquiry to inform the development of precise interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chloe C Boyle
- Norman Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA, USA.
| | - Julienne E Bower
- Norman Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA, USA; Department of Psychology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | | | - Michael R Irwin
- Norman Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA, USA
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6
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Phillips RD, Walsh EC, Zürcher NR, Lalush DS, Kinard JL, Tseng CE, Cernasov PM, Kan D, Cummings K, Kelley L, Campbell D, Dillon DG, Pizzagalli DA, Izquierdo-Garcia D, Hooker JM, Smoski MJ, Dichter GS. Striatal dopamine in anhedonia: A simultaneous [ 11C]raclopride positron emission tomography and functional magnetic resonance imaging investigation. Psychiatry Res Neuroimaging 2023; 333:111660. [PMID: 37301129 PMCID: PMC10594643 DOI: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2023.111660] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2022] [Revised: 04/21/2023] [Accepted: 05/18/2023] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Anhedonia is hypothesized to be associated with blunted mesocorticolimbic dopamine (DA) functioning in samples with major depressive disorder. The purpose of this study was to examine linkages between striatal DA, reward circuitry functioning, anhedonia, and, in an exploratory fashion, self-reported stress, in a transdiagnostic anhedonic sample. METHODS Participants with (n = 25) and without (n = 12) clinically impairing anhedonia completed a reward-processing task during simultaneous positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance (PET-MR) imaging with [11C]raclopride, a DA D2/D3 receptor antagonist that selectively binds to striatal DA receptors. RESULTS Relative to controls, the anhedonia group exhibited decreased task-related DA release in the left putamen, caudate, and nucleus accumbens and right putamen and pallidum. There were no group differences in task-related brain activation (fMRI) during reward processing after correcting for multiple comparisons. General functional connectivity (GFC) findings revealed blunted fMRI connectivity between PET-derived striatal seeds and target regions in the anhedonia group. Associations were identified between anhedonia severity and the magnitude of task-related DA release to rewards in the left putamen, but not mesocorticolimbic GFC. CONCLUSIONS Results provide evidence for reduced striatal DA functioning during reward processing and blunted mesocorticolimbic network functional connectivity in a transdiagnostic sample with clinically significant anhedonia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel D Phillips
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States.
| | - Erin C Walsh
- Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
| | - Nicole R Zürcher
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, United States
| | - David S Lalush
- Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, United States
| | - Jessica L Kinard
- Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
| | - Chieh-En Tseng
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, United States
| | - Paul M Cernasov
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
| | - Delia Kan
- Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
| | - Kaitlin Cummings
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
| | - Lisalynn Kelley
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - David Campbell
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Daniel G Dillon
- Center for Depression, Anxiety and Stress Research, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, United States
| | - Diego A Pizzagalli
- Center for Depression, Anxiety and Stress Research, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, United States
| | - David Izquierdo-Garcia
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, United States
| | - Jacob M Hooker
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, United States
| | - Moria J Smoski
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Gabriel S Dichter
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States; Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States; Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
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7
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Mancini GF, Meijer OC, Campolongo P. Stress in adolescence as a first hit in stress-related disease development: Timing and context are crucial. Front Neuroendocrinol 2023; 69:101065. [PMID: 37001566 DOI: 10.1016/j.yfrne.2023.101065] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2022] [Revised: 03/22/2023] [Accepted: 03/25/2023] [Indexed: 04/06/2023]
Abstract
The two-hit stress model predicts that exposure to stress at two different time-points in life may increase or decrease the risk of developing stress-related disorders later in life. Most studies based on the two-hit stress model have investigated early postnatal stress as the first hit with adult stress as the second hit. Adolescence, however, represents another highly sensitive developmental window during which exposure to stressful events may affect programming outcomes following exposure to stress in adulthood. Here, we discuss the programming effects of different types of stressors (social and nonsocial) occurring during adolescence (first hit) and how such stressors affect the responsiveness toward an additional stressor occurring during adulthood (second hit) in rodents. We then provide a comprehensive overview of the potential mechanisms underlying interindividual and sex differences in the resilience/susceptibility to developing stress-related disorders later in life when stress is experienced in two different life stages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giulia F Mancini
- Dept. of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy; Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Leiden University Medical Center, 2333 ZA Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Onno C Meijer
- Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Leiden University Medical Center, 2333 ZA Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Patrizia Campolongo
- Dept. of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy; Neuropsychopharmacology Unit, IRCSS Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00143 Rome, Italy.
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8
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Munshi S, Ritger A, Rosenkranz AJ. Induction of Repeated Social Defeat Stress in Rats. Bio Protoc 2022; 12:e4306. [PMID: 35284596 PMCID: PMC8855080 DOI: 10.21769/bioprotoc.4306] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2021] [Revised: 11/25/2021] [Accepted: 11/29/2021] [Indexed: 06/30/2024] Open
Abstract
Repeated social defeat stress (RSDS) is a model of chronic stress in rodents. There are several variants of social defeat procedures that exert robust effects in mice, but few published detailed protocols to produce a robust stress and altered immunological profile in rats. In this article, we describe the protocol for the induction of RSDS in adult male Sprague-Dawley rats. Using a resident-intruder paradigm, a physical component of stress is induced by direct attack from the resident aggressive retired breeder Long-Evans rats on the intruder experimental rats. A subsequent threat component is induced by the presence of the aggressor in the vicinity of the intruder, but with physical separation between them. The RSDS induced by this protocol produces robust immunological and behavioral changes in the experimental rats, as evidenced by development of anxiety-like behaviors in open field, social interaction, and elevated plus maze tests, as well as by changes in immune parameters (Munshi et al., 2020). This approach has been used as an ethologically relevant model of stressors that are potent enough to impact neural circuits that are similar to the neural circuits impacted in patients with depression and anxiety.
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Affiliation(s)
- Soumyabrata Munshi
- Tulane Brain Institute, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Tulane University, 6823 St. Charles Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70118, USA
| | - Alexandra Ritger
- Center for Neurobiology of Stress Resilience and Psychiatric Disorders, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago, IL 60064, USA
| | - Amiel J. Rosenkranz
- Department of Foundational Sciences and Humanities, Discipline of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, Chicago Medical School, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago, IL 60064, USA
- Center for Neurobiology of Stress Resilience and Psychiatric Disorders, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago, IL 60064, USA
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9
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Lemon C, Del Arco A. Intermittent social stress produces different short- and long-term effects on effort-based reward-seeking behavior. Behav Brain Res 2022; 417:113613. [PMID: 34600962 PMCID: PMC8670294 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2021.113613] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2021] [Revised: 09/24/2021] [Accepted: 09/27/2021] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
Previous studies show that intermittent social defeat (ISD) stress increases self-administration of psychostimulants, which suggests that ISD promotes reward-seeking behavior and, ultimately, increases vulnerability to develop drug abuse. The present study investigates whether ISD alters cost/benefit evaluations to promote reward-seeking behavior and whether these alterations are time-dependent. Male rats performed two different tasks that assessed their motivation to seek and consume food rewards. An effort-discounting task in which rats chose between less and more effortful options (i.e., 1 lever-press versus 2, 5, 10 or 20 lever-presses) associated with low- and high-reward (i.e., 1 sugar pellet versus 3 sugar pellets), respectively; and a progressive ratio task in which rats had to increase their effort (more lever presses) to obtain a sugar pellet. ISD consisted of exposing animals to social defeat once every three days for ten days (4 stress episodes). Rats were tested 24-48 h after stress episodes, and 1 week and 6 weeks after the last stress episode. In the effort-discounting task, stressed animals showed a decrease in their preference for high rewards associated with more effort (i.e., 10 and 20 lever-presses). These effects were transient and not maintained one week after stress. In the progressive ratio task, stressed animals showed an increase in the number of lever presses to obtain rewards that emerged six weeks after the last stress episode. These results suggest different short- and long-term effects on the motivation for rewards after ISD and indicate temporal dynamic adaptations in the function of the brain reward system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher Lemon
- HSERM, School of Applied Sciences, University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS
| | - Alberto Del Arco
- HSERM, School of Applied Sciences, University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS,Neurobiology and Anatomical Sciences, Medical School, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS,Department of Biomolecular Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS
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10
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Abstract
Anhedonia is a core feature of psychopathological conditions that have recent exposure to stress and trauma as central to their etiology. Indeed, evolutionary accounts of depression suggest that decreased motivation to pursue reward may be an adaptive strategy in the face of social stress, in particular, as it may serve to defuse interpersonal conflict. Through a review of rodent models and research with humans, we show that exposure to stress, particularly when it is chronic, repeated, and/or involves themes of social rejection or defeat, is consistently associated with reduced hedonic capacity ("liking"), motivation to pursue reward ("wanting"), and ability to learn from reward ("reward learning"). Further, across rodent and human research, there is evidence that females show greater stress-induced blunting of reward processing than males. In humans, this sex difference emerges most strongly when examining individual differences in the stress response rather than group differences in stress exposure. We discuss the implications of these findings for understanding the etiology of, and sex differences in, stress-related psychopathology, including depression and addiction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kate L Harkness
- Department of Psychology, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
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11
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Chronic mild stress paradigm as a rat model of depression: facts, artifacts, and future perspectives. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2022; 239:663-693. [PMID: 35072761 PMCID: PMC8785013 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-021-05982-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2020] [Accepted: 09/15/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
RATIONALE The chronic mild stress (CMS) paradigm was first described almost 40 years ago and has become a widely used model in the search for antidepressant drugs for major depression disorder (MDD). It has resulted in the publication of almost 1700 studies in rats alone. Under the original CMS procedure, the expression of an anhedonic response, a key symptom of depression, was seen as an essential feature of both the model and a depressive state. The prolonged exposure of rodents to unpredictable/uncontrollable mild stressors leads to a reduction in the intake of palatable liquids, behavioral despair, locomotor inhibition, anxiety-like changes, and vegetative (somatic) abnormalities. Many of the CMS studies do not report these patterns of behaviors, and they often fail to include consistent molecular, neuroanatomical, and physiological phenotypes of CMS-exposed animals. OBJECTIVES To critically review the CMS studies in rats so that conceptual and methodological flaws can be avoided in future studies. RESULTS Analysis of the literature supports the validity of the CMS model and its impact on the field. However, further improvements could be achieved by (i) the stratification of animals into 'resilient' and 'susceptible' cohorts within the CMS animals, (ii) the use of more refined protocols in the sucrose test to mitigate physiological and physical artifacts, and (iii) the systematic evaluation of the non-specific effects of CMS and implementation of appropriate adjustments within the behavioral tests. CONCLUSIONS We propose methodological revisions and the use of more advanced behavioral tests to refine the rat CMS paradigm, which offers a valuable tool for developing new antidepressant medications.
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12
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de Abreu MS, Costa F, Giacomini ACVV, Demin KA, Zabegalov KN, Maslov GO, Kositsyn YM, Petersen EV, Strekalova T, Rosemberg DB, Kalueff AV. Towards Modeling Anhedonia and Its Treatment in Zebrafish. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol 2021; 25:293-306. [PMID: 34918075 PMCID: PMC9017771 DOI: 10.1093/ijnp/pyab092] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2021] [Revised: 11/11/2021] [Accepted: 12/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Mood disorders, especially depression, are a major cause of human disability. The loss of pleasure (anhedonia) is a common, severely debilitating symptom of clinical depression. Experimental animal models are widely used to better understand depression pathogenesis and to develop novel antidepressant therapies. In rodents, various experimental models of anhedonia have already been developed and extensively validated. Complementing rodent studies, the zebrafish (Danio rerio) is emerging as a powerful model organism to assess pathobiological mechanisms of affective disorders, including depression. Here, we critically discuss the potential of zebrafish for modeling anhedonia and studying its molecular mechanisms and translational implications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Murilo S de Abreu
- School of Pharmacy, Southwest University, Chongqing, China,Bioscience Institute, University of Passo Fundo, Passo Fundo, RS, Brazil,Laboratory of Cell and Molecular Biology and Neurobiology, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Moscow, Russia
| | - Fabiano Costa
- Graduate Program in Biological Sciences: Toxicological Biochemistry, Natural and Exact Sciences Center, Federal University of Santa Maria, Santa Maria, Brazil
| | - Ana C V V Giacomini
- Bioscience Institute, University of Passo Fundo, Passo Fundo, RS, Brazil,Graduate Program in Environmental Sciences, University of Passo Fundo, Passo Fundo, RS, Brazil
| | - Konstantin A Demin
- Drug Screening Platform, School of Pharmacy, Southwest University, Chongqing, China,Ural Federal University, Ekaterinburg, Russia,Institute of Experimental Medicine, Almazov National Medical Research Centre, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | | | - Gleb O Maslov
- Ural Federal University, Ekaterinburg, Russia,Neurobiology Program, Sirius University of Science and Technology, Sochi, Russia
| | - Yuriy M Kositsyn
- Neurobiology Program, Sirius University of Science and Technology, Sochi, Russia
| | - Elena V Petersen
- Laboratory of Cell and Molecular Biology and Neurobiology, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Moscow, Russia
| | - Tatiana Strekalova
- Department of Preventive Medicine, Maastricht Medical Center Annadal, Maastricht, Netherlands,Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, University of Maastricht, Maasticht, the Netherlands,Laboratory of Psychiatric Neurobiology, Institute of Molecular Medicine and Department of Normal Physiology, Sechenov 1st Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russia,Institute of General Pathology and Pathophysiology, Moscow, Russia
| | - Denis B Rosemberg
- Graduate Program in Biological Sciences: Toxicological Biochemistry, Natural and Exact Sciences Center, Federal University of Santa Maria, Santa Maria, Brazil,Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Natural and Exact Sciences Center, Federal University of Santa Maria, Santa Maria, Brazil
| | - Allan V Kalueff
- School of Pharmacy, Southwest University, Chongqing, China,Drug Screening Platform, School of Pharmacy, Southwest University, Chongqing, China,Ural Federal University, Ekaterinburg, Russia,Russian Research Center of Radiology and Surgical Technologies, Ministry of Healthcare of Russian Federation, St. Petersburg, Russia,Institute of Experimental Medicine, Almazov National Medical Research Centre, St. Petersburg, Russia,Novosibirsk State University, Novosibisk, Russia,Scientific Research Institute of Neurosciences and Medicine, Novosibirsk, Russia,Correspondence: Allan V. Kalueff, PhD, School of Pharmacy, Southwest University, Chongqing, China ()
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13
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Woodburn SC, Bollinger JL, Wohleb ES. The semantics of microglia activation: neuroinflammation, homeostasis, and stress. J Neuroinflammation 2021; 18:258. [PMID: 34742308 PMCID: PMC8571840 DOI: 10.1186/s12974-021-02309-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 196] [Impact Index Per Article: 65.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2021] [Accepted: 10/28/2021] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Microglia are emerging as critical regulators of neuronal function and behavior in nearly every area of neuroscience. Initial reports focused on classical immune functions of microglia in pathological contexts, however, immunological concepts from these studies have been applied to describe neuro-immune interactions in the absence of disease, injury, or infection. Indeed, terms such as 'microglia activation' or 'neuroinflammation' are used ubiquitously to describe changes in neuro-immune function in disparate contexts; particularly in stress research, where these terms prompt undue comparisons to pathological conditions. This creates a barrier for investigators new to neuro-immunology and ultimately hinders our understanding of stress effects on microglia. As more studies seek to understand the role of microglia in neurobiology and behavior, it is increasingly important to develop standard methods to study and define microglial phenotype and function. In this review, we summarize primary research on the role of microglia in pathological and physiological contexts. Further, we propose a framework to better describe changes in microglia1 phenotype and function in chronic stress. This approach will enable more precise characterization of microglia in different contexts, which should facilitate development of microglia-directed therapeutics in psychiatric and neurological disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samuel C Woodburn
- Department of Pharmacology & Systems Physiology, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA
| | - Justin L Bollinger
- Department of Pharmacology & Systems Physiology, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA
| | - Eric S Wohleb
- Department of Pharmacology & Systems Physiology, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA.
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14
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Garcia-Keller C, Carter JS, Kruyer A, Kearns AM, Hopkins JL, Hodebourg R, Kalivas PW, Reichel CM. Behavioral and accumbens synaptic plasticity induced by cues associated with restraint stress. Neuropsychopharmacology 2021; 46:1848-1856. [PMID: 34226657 PMCID: PMC8357931 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-021-01074-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2021] [Revised: 06/13/2021] [Accepted: 06/14/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Exposure to acute stress can increase vulnerability to develop or express many psychiatric disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder. We hypothesized that stress-induced psychiatric vulnerability is associated with enduring neuroplasticity in the nucleus accumbens core because stress exposure can alter drug addiction-related behaviors that are associated with accumbens synaptic plasticity. We used a single 2-h stress session and 3 weeks later exposed male and female rats to stress-conditioned odors in a modified defensive burying task, and quantified both active and avoidant coping strategies. We measured corticosterone, dendritic spine and astrocyte morphology in accumbens, and examined reward sensitivity using a sucrose two-bottle choice and operant sucrose self-administration. Exposure to stress odor increased burying (active coping) and immobility (avoidant coping) in the defensive burying task in female and male rats. Systemic corticosterone was transiently increased by both ongoing acute restraint stress and stress-conditioned odors. Three weeks after administering acute restraint stress, we observed increased dendritic spine density and head diameter, and decreased synaptic association with astroglia and the astroglial glutamate transporter, GLT-1. Exposure to conditioned stress further increased head diameter without affecting spine density or astroglial morphology, and this increase by conditioned stress was correlated with burying behavior. Finally, we found that stress-exposed females have a preference for sweet solutions and higher motivation to seek sucrose than stressed male rats. We conclude that acute stress produced enduring plasticity in accumbens postsynapses and associated astroglia. Moreover, conditioned stress odors induced active behavioral coping strategies that were correlated with dendritic spine morphology.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jordan S Carter
- Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
| | - Anna Kruyer
- Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
| | - Angela M Kearns
- Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
| | - Jordan L Hopkins
- Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
| | - Ritchy Hodebourg
- Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
| | - Peter W Kalivas
- Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
| | - Carmela M Reichel
- Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA.
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15
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Meymandi MS, Sepehri G, Moslemizadeh A, Shahrbabaki SSV. Prenatal Pregabalin Exposure Alters Postnatal Pain Sensitivity and Some Behavioral Responses in Adult Offspring Rats. Curr Drug Saf 2021; 15:205-214. [PMID: 32598270 DOI: 10.2174/1574886315666200628114257] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2020] [Revised: 05/26/2020] [Accepted: 05/29/2020] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Prenatal antiepileptic drug exposure could demonstrate both congenital malformations and behavioral impairments in offspring. OBJECTIVE This study was performed to assess the effects of prenatal exposure to pregabalin (PGB) on pain response, anxiety, motor activity and some behavior of adult offspring rats. METHODS Pregnant Wistar rats received PGB (7.5, 15 and 30 mg/kg/ip) during embryonic days 9.5- 15.5. The pain response, anxiety-like behaviors, locomotor activity, motor balance and coordination and anhedonia of adult offspring were examined by tail-flick and hot plate test, open field test, elevated plus maze (EPM), beam balance test and sucrose preference test in their 60th day of life, respectively. RESULTS Prenatal exposure to PGB revealed significant dose-dependent reduction in pain sensitivity (increase in pain latency response) in the hot plate test, especially in females, while anxiety-like behavior assessed in EPM and open field significantly reduced in males. In the open field, locomotor activity reduced significantly after exposure to PGB 30 mg/kg and motor coordination decreased dose-dependently, especially in males. Anhedonia, as an indication of sucrose preference or pleasure response, was not changed. CONCLUSION These findings suggest that prenatal PGB exposure could be associated with significant changes in pain response, anxiety, locomotor activity and coordination in adult offspring rats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manzumeh-Shamsi Meymandi
- Pathology and Stem Cells Research Center, Kerman Medical School, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran,Physiology and Pharmacology Department, Kerman Medical School, Kerman University of Medical Sciences,
Kerman, Iran
| | - Gholamreza Sepehri
- Kerman Neuroscience Research Center, Neuropharmacology Institute, Kerman University of Medical
Sciences, Kerman, Iran
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16
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Pelletier-Baldelli A, Strauss GP, Kuhney FS, Chun C, Gupta T, Ellman LM, Schiffman J, Mittal VA. Perceived stress influences anhedonia and social functioning in a community sample enriched for psychosis-risk. J Psychiatr Res 2021; 135:96-103. [PMID: 33460840 PMCID: PMC7914219 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2021.01.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2020] [Revised: 11/25/2020] [Accepted: 01/04/2021] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Existing animal and human research support the causal role of stress in the emergence of anhedonia, and in turn, the influence of anhedonia in social functioning. However, this model has not been tested in relation to psychosis-risk; this literature gap is notable given that both anhedonia and declining social functioning represent key markers of risk of developing a psychotic disorder such as schizophrenia. The current research tested the evidence for this model using structural equation modeling in 240 individuals selected based on a range of psychosis-risk symptomatology from the general community. Results supported this model in comparison with alternative models, and additionally emphasized the direct role of perceived stress in social functioning outcomes. Findings suggest the clinical relevance of targeting early perceptions of stress in individuals meeting psychosis-risk self-report criteria in an effort to prevent subsequent anhedonia and declines in social functioning.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Franchesca S Kuhney
- University of Illinois at Chicago, Department of Psychology, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Charlotte Chun
- Temple University, Department of Psychology, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Tina Gupta
- Northwestern University, Department of Psychology, Evanston, IL, USA
| | - Lauren M Ellman
- Temple University, Department of Psychology, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | | | - Vijay A Mittal
- Northwestern University, Department of Psychology, Evanston, IL, USA; Northwestern University, Department of Psychiatry, Evanston, IL, USA; Northwestern University, Institute for Policy Research, Evanston, IL, USA; Northwestern University, Department of Medical Social Science, Evanston, IL, USA
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17
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Mancini GF, Marchetta E, Pignani I, Trezza V, Campolongo P. Social Defeat Stress During Early Adolescence Confers Resilience Against a Single Episode of Prolonged Stress in Adult Rats. Cells 2021; 10:360. [PMID: 33572375 PMCID: PMC7916240 DOI: 10.3390/cells10020360] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2021] [Revised: 02/01/2021] [Accepted: 02/04/2021] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Early-life adverse experiences (first hit) lead to coping strategies that may confer resilience or vulnerability to later experienced stressful events (second hit) and the subsequent development of stress-related psychopathologies. Here, we investigated whether exposure to two stressors at different stages in life has long-term effects on emotional and cognitive capabilities, and whether the interaction between the two stressors influences stress resilience. Male rats were subjected to social defeat stress (SDS, first hit) in adolescence and to a single episode of prolonged stress (SPS, second hit) in adulthood. Behavioral outcomes, hippocampal expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, and plasma corticosterone levels were tested in adulthood. Rats exposed to both stressors exhibited resilience against the development of stress-induced alterations in emotional behaviors and spatial memory, but vulnerability to cued fear memory dysfunction. Rats subjected to both stressors demonstrated resilience against the SDS-induced alterations in hippocampal brain-derived neurotrophic factor expression and plasma corticosterone levels. SPS alone altered locomotion and spatial memory retention; these effects were absent in SDS-exposed rats later exposed to SPS. Our findings reveal that exposure to social stress during early adolescence influences the ability to cope with a second challenge experienced later in life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giulia Federica Mancini
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy; (G.F.M.); (E.M.); (I.P.)
- Neurobiology of Behavior Laboratory, Santa Lucia Foundation, 00143 Rome, Italy
| | - Enrico Marchetta
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy; (G.F.M.); (E.M.); (I.P.)
- Neurobiology of Behavior Laboratory, Santa Lucia Foundation, 00143 Rome, Italy
| | - Irene Pignani
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy; (G.F.M.); (E.M.); (I.P.)
| | - Viviana Trezza
- Department of Science, Section of Biomedical Sciences and Technologies, University Roma Tre, 00146 Rome, Italy;
| | - Patrizia Campolongo
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy; (G.F.M.); (E.M.); (I.P.)
- Neurobiology of Behavior Laboratory, Santa Lucia Foundation, 00143 Rome, Italy
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18
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Spijker S, Koskinen MK, Riga D. Incubation of depression: ECM assembly and parvalbumin interneurons after stress. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2020; 118:65-79. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.07.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2019] [Revised: 07/06/2020] [Accepted: 07/15/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
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19
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Shamsi Meymandi M, Sepehri G, Moslemizadeh A, Vakili Shahrbabaki S, Bashiri H. Prenatal pregabalin is associated with sex-dependent alterations in some behavioral parameters in valproic acid-induced autism in rat offspring. Int J Dev Neurosci 2020; 80:500-511. [PMID: 32588482 DOI: 10.1002/jdn.10046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2020] [Revised: 06/10/2020] [Accepted: 06/15/2020] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
This study was performed to evaluate the effects of prenatal exposure to pregabalin (PGB) on behavioral changes of rat offspring in an animal model of valproic acid (VPA)-induced autism-like symptoms. Pregnant rats received VPA (600 mg/kg/i.p.) once at 12.5 gestational days for autism-like symptom induction in offspring. After the delivery single male and single female offspring from each mother were randomly selected for behavioral test (anxiety, pain response, pleasure, and motor function) at 60th day adulthood (n = 7). Offspring received prenatal PGB (15 & 30 mg/kg/i.p.) during gestational days 9.5 to 15.5 either alone or in combination with VPA (PGB15, PGB30, PGB15 + VPA, and PGB30 + VPA). Control offspring received normal saline during the same period. The result showed that prenatal VPA exposure was associated with autism-like behaviors in rat offspring. PGB treatment during the gestational period revealed significant reduction in sucrose preference test and anxiety in elevated plus maze and open field test in offspring. Also, PGB treatments exhibited a dose-dependent increase in pain threshold in prenatally VPA exposed rats in tail-flick and hot plate test. Also, there was a sex-related significant impairment in motor function in beam balance and open field test, and male rats were affected more than females. However, no significant sex differences in sucrose preference and pain sensitivity were observed in prenatal PGB-treated rat offspring. In conclusion, prenatal exposure to VPA increased the risk of autism-like behaviors in the offspring rats, and PGB treatment during the gestational period was associated with some beneficial effects, including anxiety reduction and motor impairment in autism-like symptoms in rat offspring.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manzumeh Shamsi Meymandi
- Pathology and Stem Cells Research Center, Kerman Medical School, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.,Neuroscience Research Center, Institute of Neuropharmacology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
| | - Gholamreza Sepehri
- Neuroscience Research Center, Institute of Neuropharmacology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
| | | | | | - Hamideh Bashiri
- Physiology Research Center, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Medical School, Institute of Neuropharmacology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.,Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sirjan School of Medical Sciences, Sirjan, Iran
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20
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Giacobbo BL, Doorduin J, Moraga-Amaro R, Nazario LR, Schildt A, Bromberg E, Dierckx RAJO, de Vries EFJ. Chronic harmine treatment has a delayed effect on mobility in control and socially defeated rats. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2020; 237:1595-1606. [PMID: 32088835 PMCID: PMC7239822 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-020-05483-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2019] [Accepted: 02/12/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Depression is characterized by behavioral, cognitive and physiological changes, imposing a major burden on the overall wellbeing of the patient. Some evidence indicates that social stress, changes in growth factors (e.g., brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)), and neuroinflammation are involved in the development and progression of the disease. The monoamine oxidase A inhibitor drug harmine was suggested to have both antidepressant and anti-inflammatory properties and may, therefore, be a potential candidate for treatment of depression. AIM The goal of this study was to assess the effects of harmine on behavior, brain BDNF levels, and microglia activation in control rats and a rat model of social stress. MATERIAL AND METHODS Rats were submitted to 5 consecutive days of repeated social defeat (RSD) or control conditions. Animals were treated daily with harmine (15 mg/kg) or vehicle from day 3 until the end of the experiment. To assess the effects of harmine treatment on behavior, the sucrose preference test (SPT) was performed on days 1, 6, and 15, the open field test (OFT) on days 6 and 14, and the novel object recognition test (NOR) on day 16. Brain microgliosis was assessed using [11C]PBR-28 PET on day 17. Animals were terminated on day 17, and BDNF protein concentrations in the hippocampus and frontal cortex were analyzed using ELISA. RESULTS RSD significantly decreased bodyweight and increased anxiety and anhedonia-related parameters in the OFT and SPT on day 6, but these behavioral effects were not observed anymore on day 14/15. Harmine treatment caused a significant reduction in bodyweight gain in both groups, induced anhedonia in the SPT on day 6, and significantly reduced the mobility and exploratory behavior of the animals in the OFT mainly on day 14. PET imaging and the NOR test did not show any significant effects on microglia activation and memory, respectively. BDNF protein concentrations in the hippocampus and frontal cortex were not significantly affected by either RSD or harmine treatment. DISCUSSION Harmine was not able to reverse the acute effects of RSD on anxiety and anhedonia and even aggravated the effect of RSD on bodyweight loss. Moreover, harmine treatment caused unexpected side effects on general locomotion, both in RSD and control animals, but did not influence glial activation status and BDNF concentrations in the brain. In this model, RSD-induced stress was not strong enough to induce long-term effects on the behavior, neuroinflammation, or BDNF protein concentration. Thus, the efficacy of harmine treatment on these delayed parameters needs to be further evaluated in more severe models of chronic stress.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bruno Lima Giacobbo
- Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, 9713, GZ, Groningen, the Netherlands
- Laboratory of Biology and Nervous System Development, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
| | - Janine Doorduin
- Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, 9713, GZ, Groningen, the Netherlands
| | - Rodrigo Moraga-Amaro
- Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, 9713, GZ, Groningen, the Netherlands
| | - Luiza Reali Nazario
- Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, 9713, GZ, Groningen, the Netherlands
- Laboratory of Neurochemistry and Psychopharmacology, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
| | - Anna Schildt
- Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, 9713, GZ, Groningen, the Netherlands
| | - Elke Bromberg
- Laboratory of Biology and Nervous System Development, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
- National Institute of Science and Technology for Translational Medicine (INCT-TM), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico (CNPq), Brasília, Brazil
| | - Rudi A J O Dierckx
- Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, 9713, GZ, Groningen, the Netherlands
| | - Erik F J de Vries
- Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, 9713, GZ, Groningen, the Netherlands.
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21
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Prakash N, Stark CJ, Keisler MN, Luo L, Der-Avakian A, Dulcis D. Serotonergic Plasticity in the Dorsal Raphe Nucleus Characterizes Susceptibility and Resilience to Anhedonia. J Neurosci 2020; 40:569-584. [PMID: 31792153 PMCID: PMC6961996 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1802-19.2019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2019] [Revised: 10/04/2019] [Accepted: 11/06/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Chronic stress induces anhedonia in susceptible but not resilient individuals, a phenomenon observed in humans as well as animal models, but the molecular mechanisms underlying susceptibility and resilience are not well understood. We hypothesized that the serotonergic system, which is implicated in stress, reward, and antidepressant therapy, may play a role. We found that plasticity of the serotonergic system contributes to the differential vulnerability to stress displayed by susceptible and resilient animals. Stress-induced anhedonia was assessed in adult male rats using social defeat and intracranial self-stimulation, while changes in serotonergic phenotype were investigated using immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization. Susceptible, but not resilient, rats displayed an increased number of neurons expressing the biosynthetic enzyme for serotonin, tryptophan-hydroxylase-2 (TPH2), in the ventral subnucleus of the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRv). Further, a decrease in the number of DRv glutamatergic (VGLUT3+) neurons was observed in all stressed rats. This neurotransmitter plasticity is activity-dependent, as was revealed by chemogenetic manipulation of the central amygdala, a stress-sensitive nucleus that forms a major input to the DR. Activation of amygdalar corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH)+ neurons abolished the increase in DRv TPH2+ neurons and ameliorated stress-induced anhedonia in susceptible rats. These findings show that activation of amygdalar CRH+ neurons induces resilience, and suppresses the gain of serotonergic phenotype in the DRv that is characteristic of susceptible rats. This molecular signature of vulnerability to stress-induced anhedonia and the active nature of resilience could be targeted to develop new treatments for stress-related disorders like depression.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Depression and other mental disorders can be induced by chronic or traumatic stressors. However, some individuals are resilient and do not develop depression in response to chronic stress. A complete picture of the molecular differences between susceptible and resilient individuals is necessary to understand how plasticity of limbic circuits is associated with the pathophysiology of stress-related disorders. Using a rodent model, our study identifies a novel molecular marker of susceptibility to stress-induced anhedonia, a core symptom of depression, and a means to modulate it. These findings will guide further investigation into cellular and circuit mechanisms of resilience, and the development of new treatments for depression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nandkishore Prakash
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093
| | - Christiana J Stark
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093
| | - Maria N Keisler
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093
| | - Lily Luo
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093
| | - Andre Der-Avakian
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093
| | - Davide Dulcis
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093
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22
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Riga D, Schmitz LJ, Mourik Y, Hoogendijk WJ, De Vries TJ, Smit AB, Spijker S. Stress vulnerability promotes an alcohol-prone phenotype in a preclinical model of sustained depression. Addict Biol 2020; 25:e12701. [PMID: 30561063 PMCID: PMC6916303 DOI: 10.1111/adb.12701] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2018] [Revised: 10/28/2018] [Accepted: 11/05/2018] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Major depression and alcohol‐related disorders frequently co‐occur. Depression severity weighs on the magnitude and persistence of comorbid alcohol use disorder (AUD), with severe implications for disease prognosis. Here, we investigated whether depression vulnerability drives propensity to AUD at the preclinical level. We used the social defeat–induced persistent stress (SDPS) model of chronic depression in combination with operant alcohol self‐administration (SA). Male Wistar rats were subjected to social defeat (five episodes) and prolonged social isolation (~12 weeks) and subsequently classified as SDPS‐prone or SDPS‐resilient based on their affective and cognitive performance. Using an operant alcohol SA paradigm, acquisition, motivation, extinction, and cue‐induced reinstatement of alcohol seeking were examined in the two subpopulations. SDPS‐prone animals showed increased alcohol SA, heightened motivation to acquire alcohol, persistent alcohol seeking despite alcohol unavailability, signs of extinction resistance, and increased cue‐induced relapse; the latter could be blocked by the α2 adrenoreceptor agonist guanfacine. In SDPS‐resilient rats, prior exposure to social defeat increased alcohol SA without affecting any other measures of alcohol seeking and alcohol taking. Our data revealed that depression proneness confers vulnerability to alcohol, emulating patterns of alcohol dependence seen in human addicts, and that depression resilience to a large extent protects from the development of AUD‐like phenotypes. Furthermore, our data suggest that stress exposure alone, independently of depressive symptoms, alters alcohol intake in the long‐term.
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Affiliation(s)
- Danai Riga
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Amsterdam NeuroscienceVrije Universiteit Amsterdam The Netherlands
| | - Leanne J.M. Schmitz
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Amsterdam NeuroscienceVrije Universiteit Amsterdam The Netherlands
| | - Yvar Mourik
- Department of Anatomy and Neurosciences, Amsterdam NeuroscienceVrije Universiteit Medical Center Amsterdam The Netherlands
| | | | - Taco J. De Vries
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Amsterdam NeuroscienceVrije Universiteit Amsterdam The Netherlands
- Department of Anatomy and Neurosciences, Amsterdam NeuroscienceVrije Universiteit Medical Center Amsterdam The Netherlands
| | - August B. Smit
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Amsterdam NeuroscienceVrije Universiteit Amsterdam The Netherlands
| | - Sabine Spijker
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Amsterdam NeuroscienceVrije Universiteit Amsterdam The Netherlands
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23
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Early life stress induces submissive behavior in adult rats. Behav Brain Res 2019; 372:112025. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2019.112025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2018] [Revised: 04/18/2019] [Accepted: 06/08/2019] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
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24
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The impact of sugar consumption on stress driven, emotional and addictive behaviors. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2019; 103:178-199. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.05.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 64] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2018] [Revised: 03/14/2019] [Accepted: 05/19/2019] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
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25
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Fang X, Zhan G, Zhang J, Xu H, Zhu B, Hu Y, Yang C, Luo A. Abnormalities in Inflammatory Cytokines Confer Susceptible to Chronic Neuropathic Pain-related Anhedonia in a Rat Model of Spared Nerve Injury. CLINICAL PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY AND NEUROSCIENCE 2019; 17:189-199. [PMID: 30905119 PMCID: PMC6478091 DOI: 10.9758/cpn.2019.17.2.189] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2017] [Revised: 01/31/2018] [Accepted: 02/05/2018] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Objective Patients with chronic neuropathic pain (CNP) have a higher incidence to develop depression. However, its pathogenesis has not yet been fully elucidated. Here we aimed to investigate the role of inflammatory cytokines in CNP-related anhedonia, which is a core symptom of depression, and to explore the effects of ketamine and parecoxib on pain and anhedonia. Methods A rat model of spared nerve injury (SNI) was constructed to mimic CNP. Hierarchical cluster analysis of sucrose preference test (SPT) was applied to classify the SNI rats into anhedonia susceptible and unsusceptible. Inflammatory cytokines in medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) of brain, serum and L2–5 spinal cord were measured. Moreover, effects of ketamine or parecoxib on mechanical withdrawal test (MWT) and SPT in anhedonia susceptible rats were detected. Results Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α was increased in mPFC, serum and and spinal cord of anhedonia susceptible rats. Furthermore, anhedonia susceptible and unsusceptible rats both increased the interleukin (IL)-1β level in mPFC, serum and spinal cord. IL-6 was altered in serum and spinal cord, but not in mPFC. IL-10 was significantly altered in mPFC and serum, but not in spinal cord. Additionally, ketamine treatment significantly attenuated the decreased results of MWT and SPT in anhedonia susceptible rats, and that parecoxib significantly improved the MWT score, but failed to alter the result of SPT. Conclusion These findings suggest that abnormalities in inflammatory cytokines confer susceptible to anhedonia in a rat model of SNI. Ketamine, a fast-acting antidepressant, has pharmacological benefits to alleviate pain and anhedonia symptoms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xi Fang
- Department of Anesthesiology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Gaofeng Zhan
- Department of Anesthesiology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Jie Zhang
- Department of Anesthesiology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Hui Xu
- Department of Anesthesiology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Bin Zhu
- Department of Critical Care Medicine, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Changzhou, China
| | - Yimin Hu
- Department of Anestesiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Chun Yang
- Department of Anesthesiology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Ailin Luo
- Department of Anesthesiology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
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26
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Scheggi S, De Montis MG, Gambarana C. Making Sense of Rodent Models of Anhedonia. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol 2018; 21:1049-1065. [PMID: 30239762 PMCID: PMC6209858 DOI: 10.1093/ijnp/pyy083] [Citation(s) in RCA: 121] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2018] [Accepted: 09/18/2018] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
A markedly reduced interest or pleasure in activities previously considered pleasurable is a main symptom in mood disorder and psychosis and is often present in other psychiatric disorders and neurodegenerative diseases. This condition can be labeled as "anhedonia," although in its most rigorous connotation the term refers to the lost capacity to feel pleasure that is one aspect of the complex phenomenon of processing and responding to reward. The responses to rewarding stimuli are relatively easy to study in rodents, and the experimental conditions that consistently and persistently impair these responses are used to model anhedonia. To this end, long-term exposure to environmental aversive conditions is primarily used, and the resulting deficits in reward responses are often accompanied by other deficits that are mainly reminiscent of clinical depressive symptoms. The different components of impaired reward responses induced by environmental aversive events can be assessed by different tests or protocols that require different degrees of time allocation, technical resources, and equipment. Rodent models of anhedonia are valuable tools in the study of the neurobiological mechanisms underpinning impaired behavioral responses and in the screening and characterization of drugs that may reverse these behavioral deficits. In particular, the antianhedonic or promotivational effects are relevant features in the spectrum of activities of drugs used in mood disorders or psychosis. Thus, more than the model, it is the choice of tests that is crucial since it influences which facets of anhedonia will be detected and should be tuned to the purpose of the study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simona Scheggi
- Department of Molecular and Developmental Medicine, University of Siena
| | | | - Carla Gambarana
- Department of Molecular and Developmental Medicine, University of Siena,Correspondence: Carla Gambarana, Department of Molecular and Developmental Medicine, University of Siena, Via Aldo Moro, 2 – 53100 Siena, Italy ()
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27
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Ironside M, Kumar P, Kang MS, Pizzagalli DA. Brain mechanisms mediating effects of stress on reward sensitivity. Curr Opin Behav Sci 2018; 22:106-113. [PMID: 30349872 PMCID: PMC6195323 DOI: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2018.01.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
Acute and chronic stress have dissociable effects on reward sensitivity, and a better understanding of these effects promises to elucidate the pathophysiology of stress-related disorders, particularly depression. Recent preclinical and human findings suggest that stress particularly affects reward anticipation; chronic stress perturbates dopamine signaling in the medial prefrontal cortex and ventral striatum; and such effects are further moderated by early adversities. Additionally, a systems-level approach is uncovering the interplay among striatal, limbic and control networks giving rise to stress-related, blunted reward sensitivity. Together, this cross-species confluence has not only enriched our understanding of stress-reward links but also highlighted the role of neuropeptides and opioid receptors in such effects, and thereby identified novel targets for stress-related neuropsychiatric disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Ironside
- McLean Hospital, 115 Mill St, Belmont, MA 02476, USA Telephone: +1 800-333-0338; Fax: +1 617-855-4231
- Harvard Medical School, 25 Shattuck St, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Poornima Kumar
- McLean Hospital, 115 Mill St, Belmont, MA 02476, USA Telephone: +1 800-333-0338; Fax: +1 617-855-4231
- Harvard Medical School, 25 Shattuck St, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Min-Su Kang
- McLean Hospital, 115 Mill St, Belmont, MA 02476, USA Telephone: +1 800-333-0338; Fax: +1 617-855-4231
| | - Diego A. Pizzagalli
- McLean Hospital, 115 Mill St, Belmont, MA 02476, USA Telephone: +1 800-333-0338; Fax: +1 617-855-4231
- Harvard Medical School, 25 Shattuck St, Boston, MA 02115, USA
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28
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Riga D, Kramvis I, Koskinen MK, van Bokhoven P, van der Harst JE, Heistek TS, Jaap Timmerman A, van Nierop P, van der Schors RC, Pieneman AW, de Weger A, van Mourik Y, Schoffelmeer ANM, Mansvelder HD, Meredith RM, Hoogendijk WJG, Smit AB, Spijker S. Hippocampal extracellular matrix alterations contribute to cognitive impairment associated with a chronic depressive-like state in rats. Sci Transl Med 2018; 9:9/421/eaai8753. [PMID: 29263233 DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aai8753] [Citation(s) in RCA: 82] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2015] [Revised: 08/24/2016] [Accepted: 07/10/2017] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Patients with depression often suffer from cognitive impairments that contribute to disease burden. We used social defeat-induced persistent stress (SDPS) to induce a depressive-like state in rats and then studied long-lasting memory deficits in the absence of acute stressors in these animals. The SDPS rat model showed reduced short-term object location memory and maintenance of long-term potentiation (LTP) in CA1 pyramidal neurons of the dorsal hippocampus. SDPS animals displayed increased expression of synaptic chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans in the dorsal hippocampus. These effects were abrogated by a 3-week treatment with the antidepressant imipramine starting 8 weeks after the last defeat encounter. Next, we observed an increase in the number of perineuronal nets (PNNs) surrounding parvalbumin-expressing interneurons and a decrease in the frequency of inhibitory postsynaptic currents (IPSCs) in the hippocampal CA1 region in SDPS animals. In vivo breakdown of the hippocampus CA1 extracellular matrix by the enzyme chondroitinase ABC administered intracranially restored the number of PNNs, LTP maintenance, hippocampal inhibitory tone, and memory performance on the object place recognition test. Our data reveal a causal link between increased hippocampal extracellular matrix and the cognitive deficits associated with a chronic depressive-like state in rats exposed to SDPS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Danai Riga
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Ioannis Kramvis
- Department of Integrative Neurophysiology, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Maija K Koskinen
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Pieter van Bokhoven
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Johanneke E van der Harst
- Department of Biology, Institute of Environmental Biology, Animal Ecology group Biology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands.,Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Tim S Heistek
- Department of Integrative Neurophysiology, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - A Jaap Timmerman
- Department of Integrative Neurophysiology, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Pim van Nierop
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Roel C van der Schors
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Anton W Pieneman
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Anouk de Weger
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Yvar van Mourik
- Department of Anatomy and Neurosciences, Amsterdam Neuroscience, VU Medical Center, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Anton N M Schoffelmeer
- Department of Anatomy and Neurosciences, Amsterdam Neuroscience, VU Medical Center, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Huib D Mansvelder
- Department of Integrative Neurophysiology, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Rhiannon M Meredith
- Department of Integrative Neurophysiology, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | | | - August B Smit
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Sabine Spijker
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
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29
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Repeated social defeat stress impairs attentional set shifting irrespective of social avoidance and increases female preference associated with heightened anxiety. Sci Rep 2018; 8:10454. [PMID: 29993010 PMCID: PMC6041301 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-28803-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2018] [Accepted: 07/01/2018] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Repeated social defeat stress (R-SDS) induces multiple behavioral changes in mice. However, the relationships between these behavioral changes were not fully understood. In the first experiment, to examine how the social avoidance is related to R-SDS-impaired behavioral flexibility, 10-week-old male C57BL/6N mice received R-SDS followed by the social interaction test and the attentional set shifting task. R-SDS impaired attentional set shifting irrespective of the development of social avoidance. In the second experiment, to examine whether R-SDS affects sexual preference and how this behavioral change is related to the social avoidance and R-SDS-heightened anxiety, another group of 10-week-old male C57BL/6N mice were subjected to R-SDS followed by the social interaction test, the female encounter test and the elevated plus maze test. The anxiety was heightened in the defeated mice without social avoidance, but not in those which showed social avoidance. Furthermore, female preference was increased specifically in the defeated mice which showed heightened anxiety, but was not related to the level of social avoidance. Together, these results showed that attentional set shifting is more sensitive to R-SDS than social interaction, and that female preference is affected by R-SDS in association with heightened anxiety rather than the social avoidance.
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30
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Borbélyová V, Domonkos E, Bábíčková J, Tóthová Ľ, Bosý M, Hodosy J, Celec P. No effect of testosterone on behavior in aged Wistar rats. Aging (Albany NY) 2017; 8:2848-2861. [PMID: 27852981 PMCID: PMC5191874 DOI: 10.18632/aging.101096] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2016] [Accepted: 10/28/2016] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
In men, aging is accompanied by a gradual decline in androgen secretion. Studies suggest beneficial effects of endogenous and exogenous testosterone on affective behavior and cognitive functions. The aim of this study was to describe behavioral and cognitive sex differences and to analyze the effects of long-term androgen deficiency in aged male rats. Thirty-months old rats divided into three groups (males, females and males gonadectomized as young adults) underwent a battery of behavioral tests assessing locomotor activity, anxiety, memory, anhedonia, sociability and depression-like behavior. No major effect of gonadectomy was found in any of the analyzed behavioral measures in male rats. The only consistent sex difference was confirmed in depression-like behavior with longer immobility time observed in males. In an interventional experiment, a single dose of testosterone had no effect on gonadectomized male and female rats in the forced swim test. In contrast to previous studies this comprehensive behavioral phenotyping of aged rats revealed no major role of endogenous testosterone. Based on our results long-term hypogonadism does not alter the behavior of aged male rats, neither does acute testosterone treatment. Whether these findings have any consequences on androgen replacement therapy in aged men remains to be elucidated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Veronika Borbélyová
- Institute of Molecular Biomedicine, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, 811 08 Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Emese Domonkos
- Institute of Molecular Biomedicine, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, 811 08 Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Janka Bábíčková
- Institute of Molecular Biomedicine, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, 811 08 Bratislava, Slovakia.,Biomedical Research Center, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 831 01 Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Ľubomíra Tóthová
- Institute of Molecular Biomedicine, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, 811 08 Bratislava, Slovakia.,Biomedical Research Center, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 831 01 Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Martin Bosý
- Department of Animal Physiology and Ethology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Július Hodosy
- Institute of Molecular Biomedicine, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, 811 08 Bratislava, Slovakia.,Institute of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, 813 72 Bratislava, Slovakia.,Biomedical Research Center, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 831 01 Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Peter Celec
- Institute of Molecular Biomedicine, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, 811 08 Bratislava, Slovakia.,Institute of Pathophysiology, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, 811 08 Bratislava, Slovakia.,Department of Molecular Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovakia.,Biomedical Research Center, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 831 01 Bratislava, Slovakia
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31
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Temporal profiling of depression vulnerability in a preclinical model of sustained depression. Sci Rep 2017; 7:8570. [PMID: 28819243 PMCID: PMC5561121 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-06984-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2017] [Accepted: 06/22/2017] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Major Depression is a prevalent mental disorder that is characterized by negative mood and reduced motivation, and frequently results in social withdrawal and memory-related deficits. Repeated stressors, such as adverse life events, increase the risk for development of the disorder. Consequently, individual variability in stress response greatly weighs on depression-vulnerability and -resilience. Here, we employed the social defeat-induced persistent stress (SDPS) paradigm to identify depression-prone individuals and to examine the temporal development of depression in the months following exposure to brief defeat stress. Male Wistar rats were socially defeated (5 defeat episodes) and single-housed for a prolonged period of time (~24 weeks). We assessed the emergence of a sustained depressive-like state by repeatedly evaluating social motivation (social approach avoidance) and spatial memory (object place recognition) in SDPS rats during the isolation period. Individual variability in the effects of SDPS yielded two extreme subpopulations: an SDPS-prone group that showed gradual affective and cognitive deterioration in terms of social approach and memory retention, and a SDPS-resilient group that did not develop this phenotype. Notably, in SDPS-prone individuals, the affective deficits preceded later cognitive impairments, providing a novel temporal profile of the development of pathology in this preclinical model of sustained depression.
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32
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Modeling hypohedonia following repeated social defeat: Individual vulnerability and dopaminergic involvement. Physiol Behav 2017; 177:99-106. [PMID: 28433467 DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2017.04.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2016] [Revised: 03/17/2017] [Accepted: 04/18/2017] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Social defeat in rodents putatively can model hypohedonia. The present studies examined models for assessing hypohedonia-like behavior and tested the hypotheses that 1) individual differences in baseline reward sensitivity predict vulnerability, and 2) defeat elicits changes in pharmacological measures of striatal dopaminergic function. Male Wistar rats (n=142) received repeated defeat (3 "triad" blocks of 3 defeats) or control handling. To determine whether defeat influenced consumption of SuperSac (glucose-saccharin) over an isocaloric, less preferred, glucose solution, a 2-choice paradigm was used. To determine repeated defeat effects on the reinforcing efficacy of SuperSac, a progressive-ratio schedule of reinforcement was used. Amphetamine-induced locomotor activity (0.08mg/kg, s.c.) was determined as a measure sensitive to striatal dopaminergic function. Defeat reduced SuperSac consumption during the first two triads-an effect seen in the third triad only in defeated rats with High vs. Low baseline SuperSac intake. The characteristic escalation in PR breakpoint for SuperSac normally seen in controls was absent in defeated rats, leading to a significant difference by the third triad. Defeat-induced blunting of the escalation in PR performance was greater in rats with High antecedent PR breakpoints and persisted 2.5weeks post-defeat. Repeated defeat also blunted amphetamine-induced locomotion 13days post-defeat. Thus, hypohedonic-like effects of social defeat were detected and accompanied by persistently attenuated striatal dopamine function. Early effects were seen for consumption of differentially-palatable solutions, and persistent effects were seen for the "breakpoint" motivational measure. The results implicate initial reward sensitivity as a risk factor for stress-induced hypohedonia.
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33
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Shdo SM, Ranasinghe KG, Gola KA, Mielke CJ, Sukhanov PV, Miller BL, Rankin KP. Deconstructing empathy: Neuroanatomical dissociations between affect sharing and prosocial motivation using a patient lesion model. Neuropsychologia 2017; 116:126-135. [PMID: 28209520 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2017.02.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2016] [Revised: 02/11/2017] [Accepted: 02/11/2017] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Affect sharing and prosocial motivation are integral parts of empathy that are conceptually and mechanistically distinct. We used a neurodegenerative disease (NDG) lesion model to examine the neural correlates of these two aspects of real-world empathic responding. The study enrolled 275 participants, including 44 healthy older controls and 231 patients diagnosed with one of five neurodegenerative diseases (75 Alzheimer's disease, 58 behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), 42 semantic variant primary progressive aphasia (svPPA), 28 progressive supranuclear palsy, and 28 non-fluent variant primary progressive aphasia (nfvPPA). Informants completed the Revised Self-Monitoring Scale's Sensitivity to the Expressive Behavior of Others (RSMS-EX) subscale and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index's Empathic Concern (IRI-EC) subscale describing the typical empathic behavior of the participants in daily life. Using regression modeling of the voxel based morphometry of T1 brain scans prepared using SPM8 DARTEL-based preprocessing, we isolated the variance independently contributed by the affect sharing and the prosocial motivation elements of empathy as differentially measured by the two scales. We found that the affect sharing component uniquely correlated with volume in right>left medial and lateral temporal lobe structures, including the amygdala and insula, that support emotion recognition, emotion generation, and emotional awareness. Prosocial motivation, in contrast, involved structures such as the nucleus accumbens (NaCC), caudate head, and inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), which suggests that an individual must maintain the capacity to experience reward, to resolve ambiguity, and to inhibit their own emotional experience in order to effectively engage in spontaneous altruism as a component of their empathic response to others.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suzanne M Shdo
- Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco, USA
| | | | - Kelly A Gola
- Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco, USA
| | - Clinton J Mielke
- Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco, USA
| | - Paul V Sukhanov
- Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco, USA
| | - Bruce L Miller
- Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco, USA
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Ng E, Browne CJ, Samsom JN, Wong AHC. Depression and substance use comorbidity: What we have learned from animal studies. THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF DRUG AND ALCOHOL ABUSE 2016; 43:456-474. [PMID: 27315335 DOI: 10.1080/00952990.2016.1183020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Depression and substance use disorders are often comorbid, but the reasons for this are unclear. In human studies, it is difficult to determine how one disorder may affect predisposition to the other and what the underlying mechanisms might be. Instead, animal studies allow experimental induction of behaviors relevant to depression and drug-taking, and permit direct interrogation of changes to neural circuits and molecular pathways. While this field is still new, here we review animal studies that investigate whether depression-like states increase vulnerability to drug-taking behaviors. Since chronic psychosocial stress can precipitate or predispose to depression in humans, we review studies that use psychosocial stressors to produce depression-like phenotypes in animals. Specifically, we describe how postweaning isolation stress, repeated social defeat stress, and chronic mild (or unpredictable) stress affect behaviors relevant to substance abuse, especially operant self-administration. Potential brain changes mediating these effects are also discussed where available, with an emphasis on mesocorticolimbic dopamine circuits. Postweaning isolation stress and repeated social defeat generally increase acquisition or maintenance of drug self-administration, and alter dopamine sensitivity in various brain regions. However, the effects of chronic mild stress on drug-taking have been much less studied. Future studies should consider standardizing stress-induction protocols, including female subjects, and using multi-hit models (e.g. genetic vulnerabilities and environmental stress).
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Affiliation(s)
- Enoch Ng
- a Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute , Mount Sinai Hospital , Toronto , Canada.,b Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto , Toronto , Canada
| | - Caleb J Browne
- c Department of Psychology , University of Toronto , Toronto , Canada.,d Campbell Family Health Institute , Centre for Addiction and Mental Health , Toronto , Canada
| | - James N Samsom
- d Campbell Family Health Institute , Centre for Addiction and Mental Health , Toronto , Canada.,e Department of Pharmacology , University of Toronto , Toronto , Canada
| | - Albert H C Wong
- b Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto , Toronto , Canada.,d Campbell Family Health Institute , Centre for Addiction and Mental Health , Toronto , Canada.,e Department of Pharmacology , University of Toronto , Toronto , Canada.,f Department of Psychiatry , University of Toronto , Toronto , Canada
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35
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Abstract
For many individuals, stress promotes the consumption of sweet, high-sugar foods relative to healthier alternatives. Daily life stressors stimulate the overeating of highly-palatable foods through multiple mechanisms, including altered glucocorticoid, relaxin-3, ghrelin and serotonin signaling in brain. In turn, a history of consuming high-sugar foods attenuates the psychological (anxiety and depressed mood) and physiological (HPA axis) effects of stress. Together the metabolic and hedonic properties of sucrose contribute to its stress relief, possibly via actions in both the periphery (e.g., glucocorticoid receptor signaling in adipose tissue) and in the brain (e.g., plasticity in brain reward regions). Emerging work continues to reveal the bidirectional mechanisms that underlie the use of high-sugar foods as 'self-medication' for stress relief.
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