Sucrose intake and preference by Wistar Han rats are not influenced by sex or food/water deprivation

Fonseca-Rodrigues, Diana; Gonçalves, Joana; Laranjeira, Inês; Almeida, Armando; Pinto-Ribeiro, Filipa

doi:10.1016/j.pbb.2022.173387

Cited by 20 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…Among them, performing long food and water deprivation before the test has been recognized as an important confounder that contributes undesired metabolic noise. Rodents do not need to be hungry and thirsty to consume sweet foodstuff 20,31 . Under the premise that sweet taste is rewarding, that CUS changes the experience of pleasure derived from its consumption, and that the SPT is a valid measure of such an experience, the SPT should detect a change in the rewarding properties of the sweet solution (a decreased consumption) in stressed rats also when food and water are available.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reliability of sucrose preference testing following short or no food and water deprivation - a Systematic Review and Meta–Analysis of rat models of chronic unpredictable stress

Berrio¹,

Kalliokoski²,

Hestehave³

2023

Preprint

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The sucrose preference test is a popular test for anhedonia in the chronic unpredictable stress model of depression. Yet, the test does not always produce consistent results. Long food and water deprivation before the test, while often implemented, confounds the results by introducing unwanted drives in the form of hunger and thirst. We assessed the reliability of the test when only short or no fasting was used. We searched PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science for studies in rats exposed to chronic unpredictable stress that used no more than 6 hours of food and/or water deprivation before the test. Sweet consumptions, for stressed and control/antidepressant-treated animals, in 132 studies were pooled in a random effects model. We found a decrease in sweet consumption in stressed rats, compared to controls, that was halved when a non-caloric sweetener was used and significantly reduced when sucrose consumption was corrected for body weight. The effect was reversed when the stressed rats were treated with antidepressants. Methodological strategies meant to control for recognized sources of bias when conducting the test were often missing, and so was a clear and complete report of essential study information. Our results indicate that not only is food and water deprivation before the test unnecessary, but not recommended. Even in absence of long fasting, we found evidence of an additional effect on sweet consumption that is unrelated to anhedonia. Without properly controlling for non-hedonic drivers of consumption, the test is unreliable as a proxy measure of anhedonia. Strengthening the methodological rigor and addressing the confounding effect of metabolic factors in the sucrose preference test prevents misleading conclusions that harm the translatability of the associated research and perpetuates the use of animals for little gain.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reliability of sucrose preference testing following short or no food and water deprivation - a Systematic Review and Meta–Analysis of rat models of chronic unpredictable stress

Berrio¹,

Kalliokoski²,

Hestehave³

2023

Preprint

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“…Open eld experiment, Tail suspension experiment and Sucrose preference are proved to be effective and reliable method to evaluate behavioral abnormalities in animal models of depression [23][24][25] . In the open eld experiment, the number of runs and grooming decreased, rather than the number of standing times, in the DSS group, the signi cant difference of immobility time was also not found in the tail suspension experiment(Fig.…”

Section: Effect Of 3% Dss On Behavior In Micementioning

confidence: 99%

Behavioral abnormalities in C57BL/6 mice with chronic ulcerative colitis induced by DSS

Zhou

Yang

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Background: Clinical epidemiological studies have found that some patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) are prone to mental disorders. DSS-induced acute and chronic UC models are often used to evaluate the efficacy of anti-UC drugs. However, whether DSS has an effect on mouse behavior has not been reported. Methods: Acute and chronic UC models were induced by 3% DSS and 1.5% DSS, respectively. The bloody stool, the changes in the colon length, and histopathological changes in the colon were used to evaluate the success of the animal model. The behavior of mice was evaluated by open field experiment, tail suspension experiment and Sucrose preference test. Results: The weight of mice in 3% DSS group decreased significantly, the DAI score increased significantly, the colon length of mice was significantly shortened, and the structure of colonic crypts was abnormal, which showed inflammatory cell infiltration and shrinkage of crypts. Compared with the control group, the immobility time of 3%DSS group mice in the tail suspension test and forced swimming test had no effect, the number of running and grooming times was significantly reduced, and there was no significant difference in the number of standing times. No abnormality was observed in HE staining of the hippocampus. However, in 1.5% DSS-induced chronic UC model, behavioral and hippocampal abnormalities were observed not only UC symptoms. Conclusions: Acute UC induced by 3% DSS had little effect on mouse behavior, while chronic UC induced by 1.5% DSS had a significant effect on mouse behavior.

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“…Rodents' preference for sweet things varies in relation to the type of sweetener being used and its concentration 3,44,45 . Indeed, some rodents are not particularly enticed by sweetness to begin with 2 . In our data, we also found high variation in the preference for sucrose of control groups (Supplementary figure 1).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The practice of presenting a rat with two water bottles where one has been sweetened, and measuring the consumption of each, is commonly known as the sucrose preference test (Figure 1). When given free access to the bottles, on average, 80% of a healthy rat´s total liquid intake will come from the sweetened solution [1][2][3] . When studies find that the preference changes after, for example, chronic stress, the change is thought to reflect a reduced responsiveness to rewards.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rethinking data treatment: The sucrose preference threshold for anhedonia in stress-induced rat models of depression

Berrio¹,

Kalliokoski²

2023

Preprint

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Exposing rats to repeated unpredictable stressors is a popular method for modelling depression. The sucrose preference test is used to assess the validity of this method, as it measures a rat`s preference for a sweet solution as an indicator of its ability to experience pleasure. Typically, if stressed rats show a lower preference compared to unstressed rats, it is concluded they are experiencing stress-induced anhedonia. While conducting a systematic review, we identified 18 studies that used thresholds to define anhedonia and to distinguish "susceptible" from "resilient" individuals. Based on their definitions, researchers either excluded "resilient" animals from further analyses or treated them as a separate cohort. We performed a descriptive analysis to understand the rationale behind these criteria, and found that the methods used for characterizing the stressed rats were largely unsupported. Many authors failed to justify their choices or relied exclusively on referencing previous studies. When tracing back the method to its origins, we converged on a pioneering article that, although employed as a universal evidence-based justification, cannot be regarded as such. What is more, through a simulation study, we provided evidence that removing or splitting data, based on an arbitrary threshold, introduces statistical bias by overestimating the effect of stress. Caution must be exercised when implementing a predefined cut-off for anhedonia. Researchers should be aware of potential biases introduced by their data treatment strategies and strive for transparent reporting of methodological decisions.

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Sucrose intake and preference by Wistar Han rats are not influenced by sex or food/water deprivation

Cited by 20 publications

References 52 publications

Reliability of sucrose preference testing following short or no food and water deprivation - a Systematic Review and Meta–Analysis of rat models of chronic unpredictable stress

Reliability of sucrose preference testing following short or no food and water deprivation - a Systematic Review and Meta–Analysis of rat models of chronic unpredictable stress

Behavioral abnormalities in C57BL/6 mice with chronic ulcerative colitis induced by DSS

Rethinking data treatment: The sucrose preference threshold for anhedonia in stress-induced rat models of depression

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