Prenatal exposure to diazepam and alprazolam, but not to zolpidem, affects behavioural stress reactivity in handling-naı̈ve and handling-habituated adult male rat progeny

Cannizzaro, Carla; Martire, Maria; Steardo, Luca; Cannizzaro, Emanuele; Gagliano, M.; Mineo, Angelo; Provenzano, Giuseppa

doi:10.1016/s0006-8993(02)03282-1

Cited by 25 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Short-term handling daily for 5 days prior to the FST did not affect immobility time in rats, but long-term handling (2 months daily before the FST) increased immobility time in the study [84] (Table 2). …”

Section: Preconditioning and Treatmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors influencing behavior in the forced swim test

Bogdanova

Kanekar

D’Anci

et al. 2013

Physiology & Behavior

346

216

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The forced swim test (FST) is a behavioral test in rodents which was developed in 1978 by Porsolt and colleagues as a model for predicting the clinical efficacy of antidepressant drugs. A modified version of the FST added the classification of active behaviors into swimming and climbing, in order to facilitate the differentiation between serotonergic and noradrenergic classes of antidepressant drugs. The FST is now widely used in basic research and the pharmaceutical screening of potential antidepressant treatments. It is also one of the most commonly used tests to assess depressive-like behavior in animal models. Despite the simplicity and sensitivity of the FST procedure, important differences even in baseline immobility rates have been reported between different groups, which complicate the comparison of results across studies. In spite of several methodological papers and reviews published on the FST, the need still exists for clarification of factors which can influence the procedure. While most recent reviews have focused on antidepressant effects observed with the FST, this one considers the methodological aspects of the procedure, aiming to summarize issues beyond antidepressant action in the FST. The previously published literature is analyzed for factors which are known to influence animal behavior in the FST. These include biological factors, such as strain, age, body weight, gender and individual differences between animals; influence of preconditioning before the FST: handling, social isolation or enriched environment, food manipulations, various kinds of stress, endocrine manipulations and surgery; schedule and routes of treatment, dosage and type of the drugs as well as experimental design and laboratory environmental effects. Consideration of these factors in planning experiments may result in more consistent FST results.

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Section: Preconditioning and Treatmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors influencing behavior in the forced swim test

Bogdanova

Kanekar

D’Anci

et al. 2013

Physiology & Behavior

346

216

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Rats should be handled for at least three sessions 17 . At the end of the third handling sessions they are placed into an appropriate animal holder (no restrain) and exposed to background noise for several minutes.…”

Section: Handling and Acclimation Of Animalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Habituation and Prepulse Inhibition of Acoustic Startle in Rodents

Valsamis

Schmid

2011

JoVE

102

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The acoustic startle response is a protective response, elicited by a sudden and intense acoustic stimulus. Facial and skeletal muscles are activated within a few milliseconds, leading to a whole body flinch in rodents 1 . Although startle responses are reflexive responses that can be reliably elicited, they are not stereotypic. They can be modulated by emotions such as fear (fear potentiated startle) and joy (joy attenuated startle), by non-associative learning processes such as habituation and sensitization, and by other sensory stimuli through sensory gating processes (prepulse inhibition), turning startle responses into an excellent tool for assessing emotions, learning, and sensory gating, for review see 2,3 . The primary pathway mediating startle responses is very short and well described, qualifying startle also as an excellent model for studying the underlying mechanisms for behavioural plasticity on a cellular/molecular level 3 .We here describe a method for assessing short-term habituation, long-term habituation and prepulse inhibition of acoustic startle responses in rodents. Habituation describes the decrease of the startle response magnitude upon repeated presentation of the same stimulus. Habituation within a testing session is called short-term habituation (STH) and is reversible upon a period of several minutes without stimulation. Habituation between testing sessions is called long-term habituation (LTH) 4 . Habituation is stimulus specific 5 . Prepulse inhibition is the attenuation of a startle response by a preceding non-startling sensory stimulus 6 . The interval between prepulse and startle stimulus can vary from 6 to up to 2000 ms. The prepulse can be any modality, however, acoustic prepulses are the most commonly used.Habituation is a form of non-associative learning. It can also be viewed as a form of sensory filtering, since it reduces the organisms' response to a non-threatening stimulus. Prepulse inhibition (PPI) was originally developed in human neuropsychiatric research as an operational measure for sensory gating 7

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“…Reviewing the pre-1985 data Tucker 92 reported that methodological problems confounded many of the studies but there was evidence for subtle effects in startle responses and some aspects of learning. [93][94][95] Prenatal exposure to diazepam has also been shown to cause enhanced sensitivity to some convulsant drugs. 34 Behavioural changes can include alterations in the ultrasound vocalizations made by rat pups, aspects of sexual behaviour and increased anxiety-related behaviours.…”

Section: Other Drugsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anti-Epileptic Drugs and Brain and Behavioural Development in Animal Models and Humans

O’Donoghue

2010

Fet. Matern. Med. Rev.

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Women with epilepsy constitute about 0.6% of pregnancies. The potential for major structural malformations following gestational exposure to anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) is well known and causes concern as how best to manage epilepsy during pregnancy. In this review we focus on the structural and functional effects on the developing brain to complement other recent reviews. We do not cover neural tube defects which have been reviewed elsewhere. Suffice to say that carbamazepine, lamotrigine and, in particular, valproate exposure are associated with them. We discuss studies based on animal models as well as those that have followed-up children exposed to AEDs in-utero. Careful longitudinal human research can document the cognitive and behavioural effects, but the long time scales required and inability to rule out confounding variables, both genetic and environmental, are serious limitations. Animal studies are based on the assumption that many developmental processes are conserved between the animals used in the models (most often rodents) and humans. However, the hugely expanded cortex and cognitive and behavioural repertoire of humans implies that there are aspects that can not be well modelled. In addition, due to differences in how susceptible different species are to various teratogens, studies always need to be done in man as well. Nevertheless, an understanding of the molecular mechanisms of neuro-teratogenesis derived from animal models will help us predict which anti-epileptic drugs are likely to cause fewer neuro-developmental problems in humans.

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Prenatal exposure to diazepam and alprazolam, but not to zolpidem, affects behavioural stress reactivity in handling-naı̈ve and handling-habituated adult male rat progeny

Cited by 25 publications

References 42 publications

Factors influencing behavior in the forced swim test

Factors influencing behavior in the forced swim test

Habituation and Prepulse Inhibition of Acoustic Startle in Rodents

Anti-Epileptic Drugs and Brain and Behavioural Development in Animal Models and Humans

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