Raised corticosterone in the rat after exposure to the elevated plus-maze

File, Sandra E.; Zangrossi, Hélio; Sanders, Fiona L.; Mabbutt, Peter S.

doi:10.1007/bf02245237

Cited by 135 publications

(50 citation statements)

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“…control) DBA/2 mice displayed greater avoidance of open arms and, thus, higher levels of anxiety than C57BL/6 mice, which is in accordance with previous observations (Crawley et al, 1997;Griebel et al, 1997;Ohl et al, 2003;Rodgers et al, 1999). On the neuroendocrine level, previous studies reported a significant increase in plasma corticosterone after EPM exposure (File et al, 1994;Holmes et al, 1998). Intriguingly, exposure of our animals to the EPM induced a small, insignificant increase of intrahippocampal corticosterone in both strains, although the EPM represented a ''novel environment''.…”

Section: Article In Presssupporting

confidence: 90%

The temporal dynamics of intrahippocampal corticosterone in response to stress-related stimuli with different emotional and physical load: An in vivo microdialysis study in C57BL/6 and DBA/2 inbred mice

Thoeringer

Sillaber²,

Roedel

et al. 2007

Psychoneuroendocrinology

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SummaryThere is strong evidence for a pivotal interaction of corticosteroid signalling and behavioral adaptation to stress. To further elucidate this relation, we monitored the dynamics of free corticosterone in the murine hippocampus of two inbred mouse strains using in vivo microdialysis. C57BL/6JOlaHsd (C57BL/6) and DBA/2OlaHsd (DBA/2) inbred mouse strains have been shown to differ in their anxiety-related and depression-like behavior and provide, thus, an interesting animal model to study the stimulus-response profile of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) system as a function of emotional and physical load. We, first, compared peripheral and intracerebral concentration patterns of corticosterone by simultaneous microdialysis of the jugular vein and the hippocampus in anesthetized mice and found strain differences in blood versus intracerebral free corticosterone concentrations. C57BL/6 showed almost the same steroid levels in either compartment, whereas DBA/2 mice displayed higher glucocorticoid levels in the circulation than in the hippocampus. This data suggest a strain difference in the tissue environment influencing the amount of biological active corticosterone at the receptor site. Measurements of intrahippocampal corticosterone in freely moving mice revealed that DBA/2 display a prolonged glucocorticoid increase in response to a single forced swimming stress (FST), as compared to C57BL/6 mice indicating a reduced inhibitory HPA axis feedback. Exposure to a novel environment (NE) induced a desensitization of the HPA system in DBA/2 animals as they show an attenuated intracerebral corticosterone dynamics after a subsequent FST. Testing animals in an elevated plus-maze (EPM), however, did not significantly stimulate coriticosterone release in either strain. The analysis of the area under the curve revealed a high amount of corticosterone released through FST and a low glucocorticoid release after NE or EPM exposure that are independent of the strain. This data indicate a strong stimulus dependency of corticosterone secretion that is strain independent, whereas the dynamics and feedback of the HPA axis is different between both inbred strains. Behavioral phenotyping of animals revealed a strong impact of microdialysis procedure on FST and EPM performance. Innate emotionality differences of both strains, however, were not affected. Though descriptive in nature, the present results suggest an altered corticosteroid signalling in the DBA/2 strain compared to C57BL/6 mice. Whether this observation causally underlies the differences in anxiety-related and depression-like behavior has to be further experimentally validated. In addition, our study highlights the use of in vivo microdialysis to assess the neuroendocrine endophenotype of animal models via profiling of stimulus-response patterns of stress hormones. ARTICLE IN PRESS

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Section: Article In Presssupporting

confidence: 90%

The temporal dynamics of intrahippocampal corticosterone in response to stress-related stimuli with different emotional and physical load: An in vivo microdialysis study in C57BL/6 and DBA/2 inbred mice

Thoeringer

Sillaber²,

Roedel

et al. 2007

Psychoneuroendocrinology

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“…Hence, selection for high levels of plus-maze anxiety might not necessarily co-select neuroendocrine reactivity, because no correlation was found between behavioral measures of anxiety in the plus-maze test and the increase in ACTH and corticosterone concentrations in both lines. Although exposure to the elevated plus-maze stimulates the HPA axis (File et al 1994;Neumann et al 1998), anxiety-related behavior on the plus-maze has also been demonstrated to be independent of an HPA axis activation (Pich et al 1993). A dissociation between emotionality and HPA reactivity similar to the present results has also been found in the Syracuse (Brush 1991) and Maudsley (Abel 1991) rats, suggesting that endocrine correlates may not be tightly linked to the respective emotionality genotype.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 44%

Behavioral, Physiological, and Neuroendocrine Stress Responses and Differential Sensitivity to Diazepam in Two Wistar Rat Lines Selectively Bred for High- and Low-Anxiety–Related Behavior

Liebsch

Linthorst

Neumann

et al. 1998

Neuropsychopharmacology

149

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Two Wistar rat lines, selectively bred for high-anxietyrelated behavior (HAB) and low-anxiety-related behavior (LAB) in the elevated plus-maze test, were tested for the susceptibility of their behavioral characteristics to anxiolytic treatment and for their endocrine and physiological reactivity to different stressors. Injection of 1mg/kg diazepam failed to affect line differences in coping strategy but resulted in a marked (20-fold) Genetic factors contribute to the high interindividual variability in type and/or intensity of the behavioral, neuroendocrine, and physiological stress responses observed in various species, including humans and laboratory rats (Boissy 1995;Clément et al. 1997;Cools et al. 1990;Curé and Rolinat 1992;Prasad et al. 1996;Spanagel et al. 1995;Tesser 1993;Zuckerman 1993). This fact has been used as the basis for selective bidirectional breeding programs from which strains and lines differing in their behavioral and/or neuroendocrine reFrom the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germany. Address correspondence to: Dr. R. Landgraf, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Kraepelinstr. 2, 80804 Munich, Germany.Received January 15, 1997; revised March 25, 1998; accepted April 16, 1998. 382 G. Liebsch et al. N EUROPSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY 1998 -VOL . 19 , NO . 5 sponses to environmental challenges have emerged (Brush 1991;Castanon and Mormède 1994;Cools et al. 1993;Gentsch et al. 1988;Walker et al. 1992). Recently, we reported the establishment of two Wistar rat lines selectively bred for differing behavioral performances in the elevated plus-maze test, now termed high-anxiety-related behavior (HAB) and low-anxiety-related behavior (LAB) lines, respectively ). This animal model of inborn anxiety provides the advantage of avoiding conditioned stimuli that by themselves are likely to trigger behavioral, neuroendocrine, and physiological alterations. Interestingly, the HAB and LAB animals also prefer different coping strategies in a forced swim test ), pointing toward a link between anxiety and coping with stressful situations.The elevated plus-maze test is based on the creation of a conflict between the exploratory drive of a rat and its innate fear of open, exposed areas. It is one of the most widely used nonconditioned animal models of anxiety and has been extensively validated pharmacologically and ethologically (Dawson and Tricklebank 1995;Pellow 1986;Pich et al. 1993). However, various clinically effective anxiolytic substances often yield contradictory results when administered to "normal" unstressed rats in this test (Griebel 1995;Rodgers et al. 1997), indicating that-in parallel to the situation in humans (Green and Hodges 1991; Lader 1991)-the efficacy of an anxiolytic may depend upon the animal's basal level of anxiety. To test this prediction and to characterize further our breeding lines, in the first experiment, male rats from the HAB and LAB lines were injected with a classical anxiolytic, diazepam, and submitted to a plus-maze test and a forced swim test to assess the e...

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“…Furthermore, in the study by Henniger et al (13), the high anxiety behavior and low anxiety behavior lines were selected in the elevated plus-maze test. Thus, it is important to note that the elevated plusmaze and the open-field tests are likely to assess different forms of anxiety (22,23). In a recent review, Prut and Belzung (24) concluded that the open-field test may be an animal model of non-pathological anxiety, sensitive to anxiolytic-like effects of classical benzodiazepine and 5-HT1 receptor agonists but not to the effects of compounds displaying anxiolytic-like effects regarding the clinical entity termed "anxiety disorders".…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 46%

Comparison of voluntary ethanol intake by two pairs of rat lines used as genetic models of anxiety

Silva¹,

Ramos

Takahashi

2004

Braz J Med Biol Res

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The relationship between anxiety-related behaviors and voluntary ethanol intake was examined in two pairs of rat lines by the oral ethanol self-administration procedure. Floripa high (H) and low (L) rats selectively bred for contrasting anxiety responses in the open-field test, and two inbred strains, spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and Lewis rats which are known to differ significantly when submitted to several behavioral tests of anxiety/emotionality, were used (9-10 animals/line/sex). No differences in the choice of ethanol solutions (2%, days 1-4, and 4%, days 5-8, respectively) in a 2-bottle paradigm were detected between Floripa H and L rats (1.94 ± 0.37 vs 1.61 ± 0.37 g/kg for ethanol intake on day 8 by the Floripa H and L rat lines, respectively). Contrary to expectations, the less anxious SHR rats consumed significantly more ethanol than Lewis rats (respective intake of 2.30 ± 0.45 and 0.72 ± 0.33 g/kg on day 8) which are known to be both addiction-prone and highly anxious. Regardless of strain, female rats consumed more ethanol than males (approximately 46%). The results showed no relationship between high anxiety and voluntary intake of ethanol for Floripa H and L rats. A negative association between these two variables, however, was found for SHR and Lewis rat strains. Data from the literature regarding the association between anxiety and alcohol intake in animal models are not conclusive, but the present results indicate that factors other than increased inborn anxiety probably lead to the individual differences in ethanol drinking behavior.

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Raised corticosterone in the rat after exposure to the elevated plus-maze

Cited by 135 publications

References 16 publications

The temporal dynamics of intrahippocampal corticosterone in response to stress-related stimuli with different emotional and physical load: An in vivo microdialysis study in C57BL/6 and DBA/2 inbred mice

The temporal dynamics of intrahippocampal corticosterone in response to stress-related stimuli with different emotional and physical load: An in vivo microdialysis study in C57BL/6 and DBA/2 inbred mice

Behavioral, Physiological, and Neuroendocrine Stress Responses and Differential Sensitivity to Diazepam in Two Wistar Rat Lines Selectively Bred for High- and Low-Anxiety–Related Behavior

Comparison of voluntary ethanol intake by two pairs of rat lines used as genetic models of anxiety

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